


Ignorance is Not Bliss

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, First Time, M/M, dark themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 19:50:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19026739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Spencer wasn't sure what to think when he realized that the person in his apartment wasn't just some random person but George Foyet and he had plans for Spencer.





	Ignorance is Not Bliss

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Season 5  
>  **Spoilers** : Up Through Season 5  
>  **Notes** : What I thought would be about 5k of angst about Foyet attacking Spencer, became a long assed fic about a lot more than that.   
> **Beta** : Grammarly

Spencer looked over at Hotch who was seated at the end of the bar where the rest of the team wasn't. No one had questioned him pushing off and going where they weren't. Spencer didn't like it, but there wasn't a lot that he could do. He was perched on a bar stool after Morgan had helped him get up there with his leg still in a brace. There was no getting down for him. Spencer was drinking Shirley Temple's as the pain medication that he was still on didn't allow him to drink. Hotch was drinking soda of some kind as he couldn't drink either.

Hotch had been a bear since waking up in the hospital and having to send Jack and Haley into hiding to make sure they lived. Spencer had tried a few times to get Hotch to come to him, and they could hang out like they used to, but the man had pushed him off every single time. Spencer really hoped that he could get through to him soon because no one liked the man that Hotch was becoming. Spencer would have thought that Hotch was scared for him, but he had been pushing Spencer away since before that case in Canada. Before Foyet had attacked him.

The bar they had chosen had been a favorite of Hotch's over the past few years since his divorce. They had good food, and Spencer had been eating there with him at least once a week since the Hardwick interview. Spencer had thought right up until he had woke up from knee surgery and been told by JJ how bad off Hotch was mentally after having to send Haley and Jack away, that they were working toward something intimate between them. It was nice to remember the friendship while it had lasted. Hotch had been the first person that had made Spencer feel like he wanted to be friends with him despite everything else. In the wake of the stabbing and the fallout, Spencer had realized that once again his friendship was only because they were working together. Just like him and Morgan. Morgan never would have made friends with him if they hadn't worked together.

JJ, on the other hand, was a little harder to narrow down in that aspect. Spencer never wanted her to leave, he never wanted to lose the connection that he had to Henry.

Spencer looked up again and looked at Hotch who was alone in his little world of anger that no one could breach. Spencer looked at his drink and drained it down before he started to scoot off of the stool.

"Hey, Pretty Boy, where are you going?" Morgan asked as he turned around at the sound of Spencer moving.

"I'm tired, and I need to prop my leg up for a little bit."

"Oh," Morgan said, and he looked like he wanted to fight it, but he knew that he really couldn't. No one challenged him when he talked about needing to leave because of his leg. Hotch just said no, and no one pushed him, outside of maybe Rossi, but he did it in private. Spencer knew that the team cared, but it was hard to believe that they had the best for him when they didn't listen to what he wanted.

"Let me call a cab," Prentiss said.

"No need. There is a bus in ten minutes that has wider seats for injured and handicapped. I'll be fine. I've got to know the driver pretty well. She's really nice, and she'll drop me in front of my apartment building." Spencer said nothing about the stairs up to his place. He did okay with them, and he was the one that had chosen to live in a walk-up instead of a place that had an elevator.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I can do this, and I'll be fine. I'll even text you when I get settled on my couch with a book to let my leg calm down from the day."

"Good."

Spencer was careful as he put a little weight on his leg. He was still on crutches, but he could put some pressure on his leg to do certain things and was prompted to do more with it by his physical therapist. So far going up and down his stairs at home, as long as he only did it once each a day was fine and wasn't injuring his knee more. Spencer had been doing good. He had made sure not to do a damned thing that was going to hurt his leg more. He hated being kept back when Hotch had found out that Spencer had faked flying clearance. Spencer hated being left behind, but after that case, Hotch had set him up in his office to work so that he didn't have to share with Garcia. Hotch had also made sure that Garcia knew that her words and the way that she acted toward Spencer before it all wasn't good.

Garcia hadn't been happy about the reprimand, but after Morgan talked to her and she saw the issue, she had changed a little. She was still standoffish to Spencer right up until Hotch had told her that Spencer had said nothing. That Hotch had been the one to do it all on his own.

The bus was only two minutes late, and Spencer took his time getting onto the bus. Maggie, the driver, made sure that everyone who got onto the bus knew that things were going to take as long as they took. It was why she was the one who drove the bus that picked up people with needs all across the city, taking them where they needed to go. She took no shit. Her nighttime driver counterpart took no shit either. Mark was a wonderful man who was good at what he did. Spencer was happy that people could get where they needed when they couldn't. Even before he had needed to use it because of his leg.

"How are you doing, Doc?" Maggie looked at Spencer's leg as she turned to look at him after he got settled.

"Good. Tired but good." Spencer cleared the bus, looking around and seeing no one on it besides him.

"Just dropped my last a few blocks over. I don't normally have any random pickups this hour so I'll take you straight home."

"That would be great."

"That your team back there?" Maggie nodded her head toward where the bar was.

Spencer turned back to look at see Prentiss, JJ, and Morgan standing there at the door looking. As he watched, Hotch slipped out from behind them and went toward where a grouping of cabs was waiting to take people home who were drinking. There were several bars in the area, so it was a good place for them to wait for fares.

"Yeah, that's them. Part of them." Spencer slumped back. He was worn out from a day on a jet with his leg up on the couch and wandering around the station house as he was feeling caged. Hotch wasn't even letting him out to see secured crime scenes. Spencer understood. He was mobile enough to use a cane if he was at work but he tired easily, and when he was home he used crutches.

"They look worried."

"I'm feeling a little stifled and haven't quite been myself. So they are worried about me. I'll get back to fighting form when I can go about my life again. I'm not used to not being able to do what I want."

"You'll get there when you can be yourself again."

Maggie didn't say anything for the rest of the trip. It was one of the reasons why Spencer liked her as a driver. She talked when you wanted to talk but stay silent when you didn't. Spencer gave her a nod when the bus stopped outside of his apartment. Spencer's gun was locked in a case in Hotch's office as he couldn't keep it fully secure when he was on crutches. It was a good way to make sure Spencer was safe and so wasn't his gun. There was another at Spencer's apartment, the one that Hotch had given him years ago. It felt like a lifetime ago when Spencer had last failed his gun exam.

Spencer managed the stairs easy and tugged his keys out of his pocket. He unlocked his door and turned off the alarm, only to find that the alarm was already off. Spencer frowned as he had just changed the code that morning. Spencer turned his keys and slipped one between each set of fingers, making sort of claws with them and turned around. He started to look over the apartment. Nothing seemed out of place.

The smell of coffee had Spencer frowning. His coffee pot wasn't set to make coffee at night, hell it wasn't set to make coffee any morning because he never knew when he was going to have a case. Spencer carefully, walked into the kitchen with both crutches, keeping his keys ready to attack as much as possible. The mask that was on the table was one that set dread into Spencer's body.

"You know I never thought that Aaron was that callous of a man," George Foyet said. He was sitting at Spencer's table with a cup of coffee in his hand. There was another cup sitting at Spencer's spot, and the color of it said that at least cream wise the man had it right. Spencer swallowed and debated what he was going to do.

"Hotch is not callous."

"Oh, no, he is. He seriously thought that backing off from you would mean that I would. He's left you alone and never once thought you should be aware that I had targeted you."

"Why would you target me?"

"I wanted to see what he would do. Who he would protect more and I found out. I should leave you alone. Let him think that he's won, but I want Aaron Hotchner twisting in the wind with regret for not being able to save anyone that he loves."

Spencer didn't know what to say to that. He could try and fight the words, but Foyet believed them, and there was no making the man believe anything else. Spencer knew that Hotch didn't love him. Hell, lately it seemed he could barely stand him. Fair weather friends was a term that Spencer knew from his mother. He slipped his hand into his pocket, dropping his keys and leaning against his crutch more. He unlocked his phone and felt the vibration of it as he found what he wanted and started to type. He just really hoped that Morgan understood what Spencer was telling him. Spencer hit send and relaxed.

"Please have a seat. Drink a cup of coffee. I figure that it will be the last cup you'll be allowed to drink for a while."

For a while meant that Foyet wasn't planning on killing him. Spencer walked forward and sat down in the chair that was across from his cup of coffee. It was in his favorite mug. He'd probably never be able to use it again for a long time after this. Spencer picked up the cup and took a sip. Foyet had made it perfect. Just enough cream and sugar to cut the bitterness of the coffee but not enough to mask the flavors of it.

Spencer knew that his chances of fighting off Foyet were slim to none. Foyet would just have to get one good kick at Spencer's knee, and he would be done for.

"How did you target me?"

"A book you bought him for his birthday lives at his bedside. You had signed it. He keeps it there. I left my mark on a slip of paper right by your signature. No one noticed it at all, it seems. So much for profilers, huh?" Foyet was grinning.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I guess that really depends on how much you piss me off. If you don't fight me, I'll injure you in a way that will make Aaron never forget what I've done to you. If you fight me. I'll make sure you are in the hospital just like he was.

"I want your word that you will stick to what you just said and I'll do what you want." Spencer hated it. He hated that he agreed to this with a mad man. There was no way to escape being injured more though if he tried to fight. Spencer was as vulnerable as a child with his injury.

"Rational men are so great to work with. So with waiting for someone who is sober to come and get them and knowing how long it takes for regular police to get here. We have time to finish our coffees like civilized men before your team, and the police arrive."

Spencer picked up the cup of coffee to take a sip, his hands were steady, and Spencer was shocked about that. They said nothing until Spencer was done with his coffee. Foyet took the cup and walked over to wash it. He even dumped the pot that had been left. Spencer felt like throwing up. Foyet came up behind him, touching his shoulders almost gently.

"Let's go, Spencer." Foyet handed Spencer his crutch and waited for him to stand up. Spencer's knees felt like they were going to give out, so he forced himself not to fall. Foyet was there with a shoulder under Spencer's armpit and then was helping him walk where Foyet wanted him. It was the armchair in the corner by his chess table. It was leather, and it would be easy to clean for whatever Foyet did to him. It was about the only chair beside the kitchen, ones that had open air under the arm before it met the bottom of the chair.

Foyet helped Spencer sit down, putting the crutch beside him and then going after the second one. Then the bag from the couch was brought over. Spencer hadn't even noticed it until Foyet picked it up. Spencer swallowed as the rope was pulled out, four lengths of it and then four strips of cloth. Spencer had no clue what those were for until one was wrapped around each of Spencer's wrists and then one around each ankle. Foyet even locked Spencer's brace so that it wouldn't allow his leg to move at all. Spencer wouldn't be able to jerk and hurt it.

The feeling of sickness was coming back, and Spencer was pretty sure he was going to throw up. Foyet was silent as he worked on tying Spencer to the chair. It was only after Spencer was tied well that Foyet pulled out the knife. It was exactly like the ones that had been linked to his first killings. That knife was set aside, and then something else was pulled out. It was smaller and easier to work with for small and detailed cuts.

"You are going to be good, right? I don't need to gag you? That would get in the way of my work, and I don't want that."

Spencer nodded, he couldn't form words. Spencer tried not to let himself look. He closed his eyes and waited. Foyet climbed into his lap, boxing his legs in, putting more weight on Spencer's good leg than his bad one. That was almost as bad as what Spencer knew was coming. Foyet making sure that he didn't hurt Spencer more.

"Why?" Spencer asked before he could stop himself.

"Why what?"

"Why aren't you hurting my leg." Spencer hated his curiosity, his mind for wanting to know that. It was his downfall and why his mind was loaded with all of the depravity that humans did to each other. Why he had taken this job, to want to fix that. Look where it got him, attacked by two different UnSubs.

"It's very simple. I could go for that. I could hurt your leg, and it would hurt Aaron but-" Foyet paused and forced Spencer's face up to his, squeezing his chin until Spencer opened his eyes to look at him. "Doing this won't put you out of commission. It won't work if Aaron isn't looking at your face every single day. I could stab you like I did him and it would hurt, but he could go about his life working without looking at you every single day but this. This is better. He'll have to watch you heal. See the pain you are in because this won't be enough to ground you, once you pass the psych exam after being attacked by an UnSub you are chasing, you'll go back into the field, and everything will be fine, for you. For Aaron, it won't."

The first cut had Spencer gripped the arm of the chair tightly. Foyet had tied him so that he could. Another bit of softness from a horrible man. Foyet didn't stop, he didn't gloat. He kept on cutting and cutting, getting whatever he was going to Spencer perfect for his wants. It wasn't enough pain to make Spencer pass out, even though it's all that Spencer wanted. He was awake through it all until the end. Foyet stepped back to look at what he had done to Spencer's cheek. He picked up the knife and then pulled a revolver from his bag. He set those on Spencer's lap before placing a dry kiss to Spencer's forehead.

"I'm going to have fun watching this," Foyet whispered against the skin of Spencer's forehead. "It's too bad that I am not into men or well boys or I would have had other fun with you."

Spencer closed his eyes as revulsion rippled through his body. When he forced them to open a minute later, Foyet was gone, the bag he had brought with him gone as well. Foyet had left the front door open. He heard the arrival of the sirens that said that either the FBI or the LEOs had arrived first. There was silence in the apartment as Spencer waited to see who arrived first. He turned his head because he didn't want it to be Hotch and see what had been done to him. Spencer saw the gun, and then Will appeared next.

"Where is he?" Will mouthed at Spencer.

"Gone."

"You look-" Will stopped speaking, he stopped walking, hell to Spencer it looked like he stopped breathing as he got close enough to see the blood that had to be dripping down Spencer's face. "EMTs are behind me. How bad is it?" Will asked. He took out his phone and took a few pictures of Spencer as he was with the knife and gun on his lap before putting on gloves to move them. He took a few pictures of Spencer's face, getting the ropes and things in the shot as well. Spencer wanted to get to his bathroom and get it cleaned up.

Will gave Spencer a questioning look as he crouched at Spencer's feet to untie him. Will's eyes kept on darting to Spencer's face. Spencer wasn't sure that he wanted to answer the question that Will put to him.

"It's not that bad. I don't need the EMT's I just need you to finish documenting it before Hotch gets here. I want to have it covered up."

"I'm sorry. I can't let you do that, Spence."

"Why not?"

"Your team needs to see this, all of them to help with the profile. You know that."

"They have pictures. We work off of pictures of dead bodies all the time. This will be no different. I can't-" Spencer stopped as Hotch walked in the door. He didn't have a gun out. Morgan was next, and neither did he. Spencer looked down at Will to see that Will had been texting. "Don't touch me," Spencer said when Will went to work on the last of the ropes.

Will stood up, his face calm. He had his hands raised. Spencer kept his face turned away from Hotch.

"I haven't actually cleared the apartment, but from what I know of Foyet, he's not going to stick around."

"No, but I'm pretty sure that he put up cameras," Spencer said. He reached over with his free hand and worked on the last knot that was holding his other hand. "He said that he couldn't wait to see the reactions. Spencer looked at Hotch to see that his face was full of anger. Spencer wasn't shocked at that. Spencer was the one that he been caught, again, in an UnSub's web. Spencer reached over for his crutches when he was free of the ropes and started to the bathroom. He heard someone following so as soon as he was inside, Spencer slammed the door shut and locked it. He got his cell phone free of his pants and texted the lead of the team that was below them. He didn't want his team working this. There was too much bad blood, and fresh eyes were needed. The flurry of text after had Spencer laying it all out. That Foyet had been waiting for him and that his team and the MPD was waiting for him to come out of his bathroom.

Morgan was banging on the door, so Spencer just turned on the water in the sink full-blast and the shower full-blast as well. He didn't really care to cater to what they wanted. He didn't want the team working his case. It would probably piss off Hotch, but Spencer really didn't care.

Spencer took a half of an hour to clean up his wound, staring at the Eye of Providence that was now etched into his cheek. He knew that it was Foyet's claim on him. Foyet was going to be watching them all closely to watch the drama between them all. Spencer didn't want to give him the satisfaction. There was a lot that Spencer could do for that. To mess with Foyet's plans.

The call to Strauss took little time. He filled her in on how he was, finding out that Hotch had already made her aware that he had been attacked. He had been asked to teach at the Academy while his leg was healing but hadn't taken her up on it. Now he was.

"Doctor Reid?" Marie called out as she knocked on the door. She was the second in command for the B-Team and a former Army medic.

Spencer reached out and unlocked the door. He stood behind it and waited for Marie to enter. Marie's eyes took in the gauze and other things that were covered in blood on the towel that Spencer had laid on the counter. Then she looked up at him. She sighed. Spencer moved over to sit on the toilet, carefully laying his leg out.

"Did he go after your leg at all? Did you hurt it when you went down?"

"I think it would be best if I started at the top. Did you bring a recording device?"

Marie didn't answer, but she walked over to set up the recorder on the counter right at the edge closest to Spencer. She washed her hands and put on gloves after that. Spencer started to talk as she worked on getting things set out and prepped to clean up Spencer better. He really hoped that Marie told him that he didn't have to go to the hospital. After she was set up, she made Spencer hush up and took pictures.

It was another half an hour before Spencer was done with his report of what happened.

"Well, you may be doing this to protect you, and I understand, Strauss understands, hell my whole team does, but your team is pissed."

"I don't care. He went after Hotch, now he's going after me to get to Hotch. We are all too damned close to this. I know why they wanted to keep it to the family but it's fucking stupid, and it's going to get someone killed. Did they find the cameras?"

"Yes. It recorded it all, everything and it was sent off to a hub, but Garcia couldn't stop the sending of it across the world. Foyet's too damned good at technology and Garcia lost it in the rabbit hole. She doesn't think that she'll be able to trace it that way at all."

"He will pop up again."

"Are you sure that going against what Foyet wants is the best?"

"Hotch has already shipped Haley and Jack off into WitSec. I'm not going to give in the perverseness that his psyche is and give him what he wants. All that will do is make him lie in wait longer. No matter what, Hotch will be upset at me being attacked."

"You know that I know you, right? You've lied to me at least three times in the recording of this about why Foyet did this. I'm not calling you on it officially. Tell me, and it stays off the paper. I'll share it with my team, and we will keep it out of things."

"Foyet thinks that Hotch is in love with me. That he threatened me like he did Jack and Haley and didn't think that Hotch would be so cavalier with my life and just leave me to be targeted like that."

"I see."

Spencer couldn't tell what her tone was without looking at her. She looked upset and worried.

"What?"

"I just...you don't believe Foyet?"

"He plays games. He wants me to do this big thing where I get pissed because he supposedly targeted me. He wants me to be there in Hotch's face so that the man knows every time that he looks at my face that I was hurt because of him. Foyet could have picked anyone on the team to do this to, and he chose the one that is the weakest because of an injury. So no, I don't think that Hotch is holding some big secret love for me." Spencer looked away from Marie then because there was such a look of pity on her face. "I want to be alone."

"Sure," Marie said. She started to pack up everything, using Spencer's trash can to toss it all in before she carried the bag out of the room. She stopped at the doorway. "You'll have to go in for testing. You know don't what he could have done to that knife. If you would like, I'll stay behind to take you when the team goes."

"Please."

Marie shut the door, and Spencer wanted to lunge forward to turn the lock on the door, but he was frozen in place. He trusted that Foyet had not done a thing to the knife, but he knew that he needed to get tested. Strauss wanted his knee looked at. It seemed that she wanted all of her bases covered.

There was silence outside of the door for nearly another half an hour and then Marie's knock. Spencer didn't answer. He couldn't. He knew that she had knocked. He knew that she needed to be told to come in, but he was frozen. He was in shock.

"Okay, Reid, let's get you going. The EMTs are waiting on you, and they are okay with you sitting on the gurney as long as they can strap in your hips." Marie was careful as she helped him up, getting his leg on her side so he could walk. Spencer was near carried out into the main part of his apartment and found that everyone was gone. The apartment looked a little different as things had been moved while prints dusted for but it seemed that even CSU had cleaned up after themselves. Spencer looked toward the kitchen to see that they had bagged a lot of the stuff and took it with them. "Strauss ordered your team back to Quantico to give statements. Strauss is not happy, but she's not upset at you or the team. It was the Brass that made you guys shelve the case, and now another FBI agent has been attacked in their home."

"Cold."

"I know." Marie walked over to Spencer's couch and picked up the blanket that Grant had made for him. He helped her wrap it around his arms and tightly around his body after he was fully settled on the gurney. The EMTs were quiet as they worked on strapping Spencer's good leg down and then his hips. They raised the sides so he could grab those and then laid his crutches down beside him. Spencer figured that one of them went to the bathroom to get them.

"Go bag?"

"Yeah, Prentiss cleared one of anything inside of it that didn't belong, and it's in my car to take. I'm in charge of you until such a time that you are released. I'll ride in the ambulance with you and Kevin is driving my car to the hospital. We don't have the trust in Foyet as much as you do."

"Were the cameras removed?"

"Yes and Prentiss reset your alarm to something she wouldn't share with the rest of us and said she was going to text you the code."

Spencer heard his phone go off but figured that one of the other texts was the clue that would give him the code that he needed for the alarm when they left. Spencer checked his phone and found a lot of messages from the team, but Prentiss's only gave him the start of the code, something from a book they had read together. Marie held up his keys, and he nodded. She went out the door first and then the EMTs moved him to the door feet first, putting the gurney out halfway so he could turn the alarm on and then he was pushed out the rest of the way. Marie shut and locked the door and then handed the keys over to Spencer.

The trip to the hospital was quick, and Spencer didn't really care either way on how long it took. He was going to get blood work and probably some kind of scan on his face to see how deep Foyet had gone. It was painful but nothing that Spencer couldn't handle so he figured that there was no lasting damage to the muscles and tendons in his cheek.

Spencer endured it all with a grace that he wasn't aware that he had. The doctor was kind and courteous with Marie staying outside of the room. The psychologist's visit was something else entirely. Doctor James Richmond was a genius, Spencer knew him from the papers as the hospital had been so proud to get him. He didn't let Spencer slip through the cracks. He had also been allowed to know the progress of the case. Strauss had sent over the security clearance paperwork to make sure that it was handled. Spencer wondered why she was taking such a hands-on approach to this.

The anger was there, and no one was shocked by that. Spencer thought that he had a right to be angry as hell. There would be visits to the FBI psychologists, but at least Spencer got to talk to someone that he didn't have to dumb down what he was saying.

"You had an impossible choice," Jamie said as he settled on the gurney beside Spencer. Not close enough to touch, just for Spencer to know he was not alone.

"I've had the FBI psychologist try and get me removed because I don't make what they think are rational choices. I made a logical one. Foyet isn't exactly going to do something that's going to mess up his fun. He watched a man keep a secret and watched it slowly destroy him for over a decade. He wants Hotch to be freaked out at my face just like he wanted to watch him spiral after making him send his kid into hiding to save his life."

"That seems like it was the goal, to make him send them away, but I can understand not taking a risk with a child's life. I can also see why you refuse to do what Foyet wants you to do." Jamie made a few notes on the tablet he had with him. The screen was dark like it had one of the protectors on it that stopped people from seeing it from anywhere but dead on. "So your boss, Section Chief Strauss, has made me your psychologist of record for the FBI."

"What?" Spencer knew that Hotch had tried to get an outside one to deal with him the first two years that he was on the team because he was talking circles around the others. He wasn't even trying, but the others couldn't keep up with him at all, and it made them mark him as willful. He really wasn't trying to be, but getting them to understand him was hard. He had given up before he had been taken captive in Georgia at the hands of Tobias Hankel. 

"Though I don't know her, I do know another FBI agent. Well, I know two. I'm in a relationship with Scott Richmond, and his father John is a hard but kind man. That's what I was told to tell you. Not the hard but kind but I was told by John to tell you how I know him. I don't understand why."

"He's my sponsor," Spencer whispered. 

"I see. Thank you for telling me. Scott and I met ten years ago, and Scott found it funny that I already had his last name. He jokingly proposed that day. I knew I was in love with him before the end of the first date. We've not been apart since." 

"John talks a little about his family, in vague terms when something good happens. I know that he's private." It made Spencer feel better that Jamie was his psychologist. "I will sign whatever forms you want to be able to discuss my case, my issues with John as my sponsor. He's been very hands on since I was shot and Hotch was attacked. I know that Hotch was attacked before I was injured and that the things had nothing to do with each other, I still feel guilty that he was shot at, stabbed, and then dropped off at a hospital without anyone caring. He's in good apartments, not in the bad end of town at all. How in the hell do the neighbors not report a gunshot going off in the middle of the night?"

"That's something that doesn't really have the scope inside of what I can help you with today, but when I come to see you or you come to see me next time, we can go over. I do want to make sure that you are well in all ways, but today I need to make sure that you are okay to go back to work, even if it's teaching at the Academy."

Spencer nodded his understanding, and he was quite happy with Jamie's response. They talked for another hour before there was a knock at the door. It was the plastic surgeon checking on him before he was being discharged, making sure that the butterfly Steri-Strips that had been put into Spencer's face, that were holding the wounds closed. There were internal stitches to hold the wound better, but then the strips were on top. 

Jamie didn't move as Spencer was looked at. 

"I'll have to do the stitches," the plastic surgeon said. 

"Okay," Spencer answered. He hadn't cared either way. He knew that the doctor was trying to limit how bad his cheek looked while it was healing, but Spencer didn't really care about that. 

"I'm going to have a nurse get what I need to numb you up again and then we will get some small stitches on your face."

"Whatever you want, Doc," Spencer said with a smile. It was starting to hurt some to talk and to smile, but it was something that Spencer was going to have to get used to. Not using his face wasn't an option. Keeping the blood flowing was the best medicine that the area could have. Spencer might not be able to smile widely or make exaggerated facial movements, but he could still talk. He could still do his job.

"How do you feel about that?" Jamie asked, and he was grinning as he said it. 

Spencer laughed. It was a small thing, but it was still a laugh. He looked Jamie who was grinning even more and looked like he was happy to get Spencer to laugh a little at that. 

The stitches on his face were not nearly as bad as last time, but still, Spencer didn't like having the doctor stand so close to him. There was a difference between the doctor and Foyet, but it wasn't a big enough on that Spencer didn't have a few issues with it. Jamie had moved to Spencer's other side so that Spencer could see him better. 

"It's an interesting dichotomy," Jamie said when the doctor left to allow Spencer a few minutes before he was run through a few more checks before being discharged. 

"What?"

"Your left leg is injured, but Foyet chose to cut on your right cheek. Opposite so that both sides are hurt. I wonder if his motives were to do that on purpose or if it was the side of your face that you had turned toward him."

"He was putting more weight on my right leg, so it was the way that he was leaning. He went out of his way to make sure that he did not hurt my leg. I meant it when I said that he wanted me there for Hotch to look at. He wanted nothing to keep me from the field." 

"I think I need to read up on the books that have been published about The Boston Reaper. I'll see what Section Chief Strauss will allow me to read on him as well from the BAU files. If I'm to help you navigate your new world, I need to understand the person who did it to you."

"I'll talk to her about it. I have a meeting with her right after I leave here."

"So do I. I need to give her my assessment of you. I think that you'll come out of this just fine."

"I'm going to be put into protection of some kind," Spencer said. He had been ignoring that, but he knew it.

"What?"

"I had changed my code to my alarm this morning. I do it every single morning with the blinds shut just to be safe. Foyet cracked it some way. He's always been more technologically adept than we knew. He had multiple IDs in Boston and moved between them with ease. I figure that the team will make me choose someone to live with, but that won't work because they go on cases, that still leaves me alone. I'm injured, and while Foyet didn't want to injure my knee more, he won't hold that since I won't be doing what he wants."

"What do you want to do?"

Spencer had been thinking about just that at the back of his mind since Foyet had entered his apartment. He knew that it was a long shot, but it would be best. 

"There is soldier housing on the base for those who don't want to live off of the base. There is a set pretty near to the Academy. I can live there until Foyet is caught. For him to get onto the base with the whole of knowing who he is and having his picture up inside of the guardhouse is suicide. He's not going to do that unless he snaps. Which I can see him doing if he's pushed. Hotch isn't spiraling like the man probably wants. He doesn't like that, and it's why he attacked me. He can't find Haley or Jack, so he's going after someone that's already weak that won't put up a fight." 

"And it has nothing to do with you being in love with Hotch?" Jamie asked.

Spencer glared at him. He had hoped that Jamie would not bring that up yet given that he hadn't. It seemed that it was a fool's hope.

"It probably does. He goes for pain, and doing this means that Hotch is going to be able to look at me anymore. He's already pushed me away before Foyet attacked him. I don't know why but I can deduce that I did something that alerted him to my feelings, so he's making sure that I know he feels nothing for me. He's going for the pain of seeing this mark on me and what that will do to Hotch. It could have been done to anyone on the team, but I was the easier mark with my leg. That it's going to hurt me even more because I love Hotch is just icing on the cake to someone like him."

Jamie didn't say anything to that, and Spencer knew that he was trying to figure out if Spencer was lying in general or just lying to himself.

"I'll go ahead and take my leave to let Strauss know that you are fine enough to work at the Academy teaching some classes for a while. There will need to be more checks, though, and I do want to meet with you once a week for a little while. Then I think a meeting just before you go back into the field will be fine."

"Sure." 

* * *

Spencer didn't know what was worse. The looks from everyone at the Academy after he had stopped wearing a bandage over his cheek, the looks the team had been giving him when they came to check on him over the past month after he had got settled to live at the Academy full time. Or the fact that Hotch had not been to see him once. He had got a single text from the man the night that he had been attacked, asking him how he was. Spencer had answered and been truthful that he wasn't sure how he was feeling. There had been no response. 

The classes were fun, and there was less issue with Spencer making an ass of himself as most of the people in the classes were there because they wanted to be not because they had to be. None of them had an issue with one of the teachers living in the same dorms as them and eating with them nearly every single day. Spencer had a made a few friends with people who had taught him that he had been friendly with, a few that were glad they weren't teaching him given his unending questions on everything. 

"Reid, mail," a security officer said as he stepped closer to Spencer's table. No one approached him on his right side anymore and more often than not, Spencer put that side to a wall. 

Spencer knew that it was an overreaction, but his brain saw things on that side as a threat. He had been working with Jamie on it but the fact that Foyet was still out there was not helping in the slightest. 

"Thanks." Spencer took the small bundle and smiled at the letter from his mother on the top. Spencer still wrote her daily, but the FBI was making sure that the letters were sent with the best security so that Foyet didn't intercept them. There was also a team of three who were stationed at Bennington who rotated guard duty on his mother's wing every single day. It was better than nothing to Spencer, and at least she would be safe. 

Jamie had made Spencer talk about his feelings if Foyet went after William Reid and despite the neutrality after that case in Vegas, Spencer wasn't ready for forgiving the man that had left him in the hands of a woman incapable of taking care of him. Spencer loved his mother dearly, but he knew that there was a lot of fault in what had been his childhood. 

Spencer set aside the letter from his mother and looked at the rest of his mail. His apartment had been cleaned out of everything that was his, and it was on the base in storage. The bills were still being paid, and the alarm kept set, but the company was going to be notified of every single time that it was disarmed. Spencer knew that the teams were hopeful of catching Foyet going after him that way, but Spencer knew they wouldn't. His team was upset that Spencer had gone around them and had another team come in, but pathways were being made into narrowing down the profile on Foyet and figuring out how to track him. 

The rest of the mail was just bills and various letters about different articles he was publishing. Spencer knew that he was hiding as much as he was being hidden from Foyet, but he didn't care. He felt safe, and he was as happy as he was going to get.

"So," a man said as he sat down beside Spencer on his left. Spencer looked at him and saw that it was Jack Garrett who led the C-Team for the BAU. He was happy where he was and had never wanted to move up further than that. "Doctor Reid, how do you feel about helping me set up a new team within the BAU?"

"What kind of team?"

"The Director has asked me to see about setting up a team like the BAU but for international cases. Violence against or caused by Americans. I don't want you for the team unless you want to join it, but I thought that in some of your spare time we could talk about some things. Gideon spoke highly of you before and after you learned to think outside of the box and Hotch has nothing but praise for you."

Spencer couldn't hold back the snort of derision, and thankfully Garrett said nothing. 

"You would be making a whole new team?" Spencer asked.

"Yes but I have my eye on a few people. I'll need different people than the BAU needs. We will not be able to rely on locals to have anyone on hand that can do what our support staff can across the country."

"You'll need a ME on your team."

"Yes. Though again, someone who thinks outside of the box."

"You want to use me to try and lure other geniuses in various fields to the FBI to get through it all and let you cherry pick a team." Spencer looked at Garrett and gave him a grin before he nodded. Garrett smiled at him and nodded his head. "I'll email you to figure out a time that works best for you to meet up at least every other day during the week. Thank you, Doctor Reid."

"Agent Garrett," Spencer said with a nod of his head. He looked back down at his mail and what was left of his dinner. He sighed and finished off his food before grabbing up his mail. He was down to just the cane now unless he did something stupid and jarred his leg. His brace was down to something a lot more simple. There was little more for Spencer to do to prepare for classes the next day as it was Friday and test day. Spencer was fairly lax in the class, but they were just far enough into the class that he wanted to know how the cadets were doing. 

Spencer's dorm room had a little more in it than most cadets had, but then Spencer had long not been a cadet. Still, it was pretty Spartan compared to his apartment. Spencer knew that it was temporary until they caught Foyet, but so far there was little advancement on that. Spencer grabbed his cane and pushed up. Another cadet that was passing held out their hand for his tray and Spencer gladly gave it over. It wasn't impossible for him to put the tray up, but he had to make two trips, one to put out his used things and his trash, and then another to get his items that he needed to take with him. One of the cadets almost always took his tray, or if one were late, they would grab his things and meet him at the door. It was strange, but it worked. 

Spencer took his time getting to his room. He had little to look forward to for the evening, so it didn't matter when he got there. Instead, he settled in for the long walk to give himself a little exercise for the evening. He had his physical therapy earlier in the day, and his leg had ached after that for a while, but it was the good kind of ache where Spencer knew that his leg was doing good and healing. He was impressed with his healing rate. He was doing everything that was needed to get himself fit again. He didn't like feeling like a sitting duck with Foyet aimed at him. He knew there wasn't anything more that he could have done to stop Foyet from doing what he did, but he hated that he had been targeted because of his injury. 

Rounding the corner, Spencer saw that there was a shadow at his doorway which was just to the right of the end of the hallway inside of the dorm. Spencer carried a gun on him, but it wasn't his revolver. It was the backup gun that Hotch had given him after Spencer had shot Dowd with. Spencer raised his injured and unsnapped the gun from the holster. Spencer had been going to the range with it at least once a week to get better at firing it since had been cleared to use a weapon, which hadn't taken long at all with Jamie working with him. Spencer was still better with his revolver, but he was good with this gun. 

There was no way for Spencer to sneak up on the man who was outside of his door, not with the cane on the floor as it squeaked some and whoever was there would be waiting. So Spencer just moved to the opposite side of the hallway so he could see better. Just as he was seeing the build of the man and comparing that to what he knew of everyone, the person turned around. Hotch looked shocked to see Spencer carrying the gun, Spencer couldn't tell if Hotch was shocked to see him with a gun or that Hotch recognized the gun. Spencer took a few seconds to stop and lift his leg to put the gun back inside of its holster and straighten his pant leg over it before he walked to his door. Hotch got out of the way to allow Spencer to unlock it. Spencer entered and left the door open to allow Hotch to enter or not. Spencer didn't really care. He walked to the chair and the ottoman that was at the foot of it so he could sit and get his leg raised and out of the brace for a little bit. He still had to shower for the day, and he couldn't do that with the brace on. Spencer didn't put his leg up, just left it bent and touching the floor. 

"How are you doing?" Hotch asked after two minutes of standing outside. He entered as he spoke and shut the door. 

"I'm doing perfectly fine. How are you doing?"

"I'm-" Hotch ran his hands over his face. He looked around to find somewhere to sit and chose the end of the love seat that was next to Spencer. The room wasn't big enough for a couch, but Morgan had found a love seat that would work for the room. Hell, everything in there was because Morgan had found it. "I'm not doing the greatest."

Spencer said nothing. He wasn't sure what Hotch wanted. Did Hotch want Spencer to tell him that he forgave him? Spencer didn't blame him for what happened. Spencer blamed Foyet. Hotch had made his decision that Foyet wasn't going to go after Spencer and Spencer could understand why. Even before Foyet had made the first threat, Hotch had pulled back from him. 

"Why are you here, then?" Spencer asked. 

Hotch looked at Spencer like he didn't know him, but then Spencer was acting a lot different these days. The old Spencer had died in the chair with Foyet. Feeling the knife cutting into his skin, being branded by a man like him. Spencer wasn't himself. Not the person that Hotch knew that Hotch had been friends with only to cut him off. 

"I shouldn't have acted like this."

"You are an adult, Hotch. You make your decisions and then live with them. There is no magic wand, no magic word, or deed that will fix this."

"I know." 

Hotch was looking at Spencer, but he kept his face turned just enough to where Hotch wouldn't be able to see any part of that side of Spencer's face. It's why he had sat where he was because the couch was set so that no one sitting on it could see that side of him. Spencer knew that when he fully accepted his new disfigured face, he would be better for it. It was just taking time. It didn't help that parts of it were still red and angry. 

"I want to fix it, though. I miss you. I miss our friendship."

Spencer turned his face a little so he could look at Hotch. Hotch still wouldn't be able to see Spencer's cheek, but that was the way it was going to be. Jamie had talked to Spencer a little bit about how much he was hiding, but he hadn't pushed it yet. Spencer knew that he would. He also talked around the issue of what Foyet said versus what Spencer believed and that Spencer needed to confront Hotch about it. Spencer figured it would be a heavenly day in Hell before he did. 

"I don't know what you want me to say to that. Do I miss it, yes? Do I want it back? I am unsure. You left once, Hotch. You never told me a reason. You never gave me anything. I tried to get you to talk to me. You pushed me away. You told me you didn't have time for and wasn't sure when you would again. This was before Foyet attacked you so you can't blame that. You need to own up for that and explain it because before that I don't give a shit what you want and I'm going to make sure that I'm not hurt again." 

"Reid-" Hotch interrupted, but he shut up as soon as Spencer glared at him. 

"Everyone on the team calls Morgan and JJ my best friends, but I don't hang out with them outside of work or team fun. I did you. I think that I would have called you my first friend that I have ever made on my end. Ethan just forced me to hang out with him. I like him as a friend, but he was the one that did all of the overtures. You made a few, and then I did. It was mutual. Or so I thought. I guess maybe you were just bored. Your wife had left you, Gideon was gone. Rossi wasn't as close as you are now. Maybe when you found someone closer to your age, you didn't need me anymore."

"No," Hotch said, and he scooted forward on the love seat, grabbing Spencer's hand where it had been laying on his thigh. Spencer tried to tug it back, but Hotch didn't let go. 

"Let go," Spencer demanded. There had to have been something in his voice because Hotch let him go, but he moved very quickly to put himself on the ottoman. Spencer was trapped because he had his legs between the ottoman and the chair and Hotch was straddling the ottoman, entirely blocking Spencer's legs from moving. Especially with his one still not fully up to par. "Back up."

"No. I want you to look at me." 

"I am." Spencer knew what Hotch wanted, but he didn't care what the man wanted. Spencer kept on keeping his face turned away from him a little bit. Hotch reached out, and Spencer jerked back from him.

"Spencer, please. Let me see it."

"Why? Why give him what he wants?" Spencer reached out and shoved at Hotch when the man started to lean in again. "I hate that he's done this to me but you aren't the cause and if you-"

"I've looked at the pictures. I've seen every single one of them. I've seen what you looked like tied to the chair. That he didn't leave a single other mark than that one there. He brought bandannas so that the ropes wouldn't cut into your skin. He made sure to lock your brace in place so you wouldn't hurt your knee if you jerked in pain. I know every single damned thing that he did to you. I read it all and committed it to my memory. Yes, Foyet did it. He threatened Haley, Jack, and you but he did do it to harm me." 

Spencer allowed Hotch to turn his face toward him. He averted his eyes, not wanting to see the disgust on Hotch's face. The stitches were long gone, the internal and the external. There was a light touch, nothing that hurt and Spencer barely felt it, but it made him shiver. The touch became more, became heavier, but still, it didn't hurt. Then there was something else, and Spencer turned his eyes to see that Hotch was kissing the skin. It was light and dry, but it was a kiss. 

"Hotch?"

"I read between the lines of your reasoning and forced Marie to confirm it. He did this to hurt me because he knows that I am in love with you."

Spencer turned his head, Hotch's hand fell down but didn't go far. It settled on Spencer's thigh, touching a place that outside of physical therapy, no one had touched him in a long time. Hotch was looking at Spencer's face, his eyes holding only sadness. Spencer wrapped his arms around Hotch and pulled the man in for a hug. Hotch held onto him like he was afraid that Spencer was going to let go or shove him back. Even if Spencer was the one who started it. Hotch pulled back enough to kiss Spencer's cheek again before kissing at the edge of his mouth. It was like Hotch was asking for permission. 

"Yes," Spencer said. 

Hotch kissed him fully on the mouth. It was a closed mouth kiss, but still, it was good. His fingers tangled into Spencer's hair and Spencer really wanted him to keep on doing that. 

"I am sorry for ducking you," Hotch said as he pressed his forehead into Spencer's so they could look at each other. "I was dealing with a lot of my own issues, and I would think that today was a good day to get a hold of you and then I would talk myself out of it and then it had been a month. I hate that I hurt you. I hate that he did, but I agree that the blame is on him. He didn't have to. I had hoped that he would stay away given the fact that even before he attacked me, we hadn't been hanging out as much. I was wrong, and Strauss, the ADD, and the team have already raked me over the coals for it. I still have no clue why the ADD raked me over the coals. Strauss already had."

Spencer knew why and he pulled back just enough to where he could see all of Hotch's face. He was trying to figure out if he wanted to extend that branch. He was already too deep into another territory. They would have to talk, and they would need to do it before this went any further. Hotch had made his confession, and while Spencer wasn't ready to give that one on his own, he was going to need to extend something that was close. 

"ADD Richmond, and I have been sort of friends for almost two years." 

"Two years?" Hotch asked. His eyes moved like he was thinking and Spencer saw the exact moment that he put it all together. "Then I'm glad that you have him."

"His son is gay and married to a very nice man, Jamie. Jamie is my therapist, and John made sure that I got together with him with all of this. I like him, and he's smart. He's good with me where others are not."

"I know you had a time of it after Hankel for various reasons. I know that not having a good psychologist to talk to didn't help you in any way, shape, or form. Nor did everyone doing the hands off thing. I hate that Gideon talked me into that."

"What's done is done, and we all learned from it on what not to do and what to do again. I don't want to rehash everything."

"Here," Hotch said, and he was moving. He slipped an arm under Spencer's legs and braced the other around his back.

"What are you doing?" Spencer demanded as Hotch lifted him up and turned them. Hotch sat down in the chair and settled Spencer into his lap. His injured leg on the outside, so it wasn't pressed into the chair. 

"This is better on my stomach and on your leg," Hotch said. He pulled Spencer's face in for a kiss again, keeping it light just like last time. "I want you to come back to the team. We all gave you time to get used to the way your body is now, your face, but you are on the cane, and you can stay in the station houses and go to cleared and controlled scenes. I want to force him out of hiding, and this isn't going to do it. I'm not falling apart enough for him. I hope that if you are around more, we can flaunt it. Show him that it didn't break us, didn't break you, and we can work on our relationship. I've already made Strauss, and the ADD aware of what you kept from the files and they agree that it needs to stay out of the files as well. No one needs to know that. I've already set everything up to have Dave take over your paperwork. He's not that happy about it, but he'll live because it means that I get to have a life. I get to be with you."

"Even before I said yes?" Spencer asked.

"I was already compromised enough that it needed to be done. It's why I pulled away. I wanted to believe that it was going to go away if I just didn't do anything about it. That it was coming from being recently divorced, and I was transferring the feelings to the person who I hung out with the most. It wasn't, and I knew that going in but I had to try. On the jet home from Canada, I made plans to ask you out on a date to beg forgiveness and ask for you to let me try to woo you."

"I would like that," Spencer said. Time would be good for them to get to know each other better. They knew each other as friends, co-workers, but lovers or working toward lovers was very different. There was also the fact that they were very different now after both of them being attacked by Foyet. It was going to be different for both of them. 

"You just made me a very happy man. How do you feel about coming home with me? Leaving here and staying with me?"

"For tonight?"

"No, until Foyet is caught. If you come back with me, then he knows that his plan failed. That he is what pushed us together instead of pulling us apart. Strauss has made sure that cameras were put into the apartment. Not the bathrooms or bedrooms but the access points, including windows to those rooms, have cameras on them. He's not going to enter the apartment without someone seeing him. The work was hidden by the cable crew who was coming to upgrade the house and the window cleaners who got the outside. Unless he goes looking for them, he's not going to see them. And if he goes looking for them, we will see him. I hate that you are hiding here."

"I don't like it much either, but at the time, it was what was best for me. I don't know if going to your place is going to be best or not."

"I've got the guest room and bathroom set up for you. I don't mean to have you sleep in my bed. Maybe after a few dates." Hotch was smiling as he said those words, making Spencer laugh. Hotch pulled him in for a kiss, and it was so sweet that it brought tears to his eyes. Hotch wiped at those when he pulled back. "You've been so prickly lately. I have watched you from afar, making sure you were safe when we are here in Quantico. I didn't know if approaching you was a good idea and if I should do it in public or in private. I should have known better on that part, always private. You are a very private person, so am I." 

Spencer nodded his head and jumped a little when he felt a hand on his leg. Hotch was removing the gun from his ankle holster. 

"I wasn't aware that you kept this. I've not seen it since."

"It's been inside of my home safe. I've not needed to keep it close to me as I like having it here. It's a good reminder that you do trust me and what I do on this team. Especially lately when I've had issues remembering that."

"We have a lot of ground to cover on getting back the trust that I've damaged a little bit. I promise that I will, Spencer. I'll do better." 

"Good. I'll do better at not just fading to the back when I think I need more than what you are giving. It's hard, but I'll try."

"That's all I can ask."

* * *

Spencer sighed as he rolled over in bed. He flung his arm over and found Hotch's body. While the idea of them sleeping in different rooms had been the plan when Spencer had temporarily moved in with Hotch, it had not been the reality. If Spencer wasn't woken up by Hotch having a nightmare, Hotch was by him. So while they went to sleep in different beds every single night, one of them was moving to the other bed at some point to remind the other that they were not alone and that they were safe. 

The creak of the fire escape would have usually passed by Spencer thoughts, but it wasn't windy outside. It hadn't been for days. They were in a windless heat swell for summer, and it sucked. Spencer reached over to grab the house phone and dialed the number of the security team that was across the hall that was watching the cameras. 

"What's going on with the fire escape?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing so far. Why?"

"I hear it creaking, and there is no wind."

"I'll have the unmarked car move to see." 

There was silence on the other end of the phone and then a silent curse.

"He just got to your floor. Get Hotch awake." The line went dead, and Spencer dropped the phone to the bed. He reached over and roused Hotch from his sleep. Hotch was silent, but his eyes opened up.

"He's here." 

Hotch nodded and reached under his pillow. There was a holster at the head of the bed, so Spencer wasn't surprised when Hotch's hand came back out, and he was holding a gun. Spencer's gun was in the safe in the bathroom. Which with Spencer's knee still messed up was where Spencer was going to go. He could walk well on it, and he didn't need the cane anymore except at night, but one good kick and Spencer could be hurt worse than he had the first time. It had been their first fight since starting to date, but Spencer agreed that Aaron was logical. 

If Spencer had been in his bedroom, alone, he would have grabbed the matching gun that was in the same place on his bed and then made his way to his bathroom to wait. There was also a second gun in the bathroom just in case Hotch was the one who had moved in the night. The apartment was a fortress, but it had weak points. Foyet could do a lot of damage in a blitz attack on them while they were sleeping and it would be all that he needed to do. 

There was a silent strike team getting ready to ambush him if they could get there before Foyet broke in. Spencer heard the sound of glass being cut and knew that it wasn't going to happen. He rolled over to put himself closer to Hotch, tucking himself into him. Hotch's arm went around him, the gun hidden by the blankets over them. Spencer tucked his head down to where he could at least cover one ear for the gunshot that was about to happen. Spencer heard the safety being removed from the gun, or at least he thought he did. 

Hotch waited for the scrape of the glass being removed from the window and then the click of the lock. As soon as the window was being shoved up, the alarm started to chirp. Spencer squeezed his eyes tighter as he felt Foyet moving. Foyet made little sound as he climbed in. The alarm changed from the soft beep to the angry noise it made when the alarm was going off. Foyet moved, and it made noise then there was the sound of Hotch's gun going off. 

Spencer's ear was ringing, but he didn't move. He would wait for Hotch to tell him it was safe for him to move. It was just a few seconds later that the door to the room was shoved open. Spencer stayed still while Hotch rolled to deal with the new threat. 

"Clear," a voice called out. It came from over at the window. 

Spencer sat up and looked around, seeing the tactical team in the room. He looked at Foyet who was on the floor with a hole in his forehead. Spencer looked back at the tactical team and then at the fact that he was half naked. Spencer grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to where it was covering his upper body. One of the team laughed and shook his head before taking off his headgear. 

"Little bit of a letdown Hotch. All this time waiting for the asshole to make a move and you put him down without aiming. Still got it, huh?" The lights turned on, and Spencer could better see the team and the man who was talking. 

"Spencer Reid, I would like you to meet Daniel Lorne. He was the replacement for me on my SWAT team for the FBI when I moved to the Seattle investigation squad. He's now the lead. Daniel, I'd like you to meet Doctor Spencer Reid, the resident genius on my team."

"And in your bed. You know when my team was tapped for this because we were on the other side of the country and had no ties to those who were looking for Foyet I kind of balked when I saw the briefing packet." Lorne waved, and his team left, and then he looked at Hotch.

Hotch started to get out of bed, he was still wearing pants and a T-shirt, but Spencer had got hot, so he had taken his off in the night. Hotch picked up Spencer's shirt and tossed it at him. 

"CSU is going to want to talk to you both. He's on camera, but you know how some people are. They would have rather one of you taken an injury."

"We already have," Spencer said as he jerked his shirt down. 

"The packet was light on the details of the prior acts." Lorne's eyes looked them both up and down, and then Spencer turned his head so that the scar could be seen. Lorne's eyes grew a little wide, but then he was drawn to Hotch who was lifting up his shirt to show his bigger scars. "Damn. Yeah. I would have shot first and asked questions later as well. Two prior attacks and how he entered. I really don't see how someone could argue that this was a bad shooting."

"Who has been notified?" Hotch asked as held out his hand for Spencer to take so that he could be helped from the bed. Lorne's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw the brace still on Spencer's leg. "That was not done by him. Spencer got that protecting a victim just about the same time I was attacked by Foyet the first time."

"I thought that you were getting into a less worrisome job with the BAU than SWAT?" Lorne asked.

The rest of the very early morning flew by with the CSU team and the team covering finding Foyet arriving to do their job. There was no issue that Foyet broke in between the cameras and the physical evidence. There was also the previous issue of him attacking them both and stopping him from having that chance again. 

Spencer and Aaron were talked to alone and then together, and then Aaron went back into a room to talk to Strauss alone. 

"I'm fine, Morgan, you don't need to hover around me. I'm a big boy, and I know how to keep myself entertained. 

"I know." Morgan dropped onto the couch beside Spencer. "You keep looking down the hall to where Hotch went with Strauss, and you look like you are looking at someone who broke your heart."

"Morgan, I started a relationship with a man with an ex-wife and a kid. Now those two are going to come how to find that Hotch is in a new relationship and it's with me. I know that if Jack hates me, I'm done. I know that."

"Reid, Jack is not even four. He likes you enough as he knows you. He's not going to hate you, and he's too young to understand anything that has to do with what a relationship is."

"Haley knows and understands. She could try and keep his kid from him. Hotch isn't going to go for that. It would be easier to dump me and then go on with life with Jack."

"Easier yes but you..." Morgan sighed and looked around. He found where Rossi was. "Rossi, I'm taking Reid out for a coffee. He is in need of some air."

"Okay, I'll let Aaron know."

The walk to the coffee shop was done in silence, then they were heading out to the park to get in some sunlight and air since it was what Morgan had used. 

"Look, Reid. Hotch doesn't take the easy route. Look how long he hung on and fought Haley on the divorce just to hopefully change her mind. If he had gone the easy route, he would have never come back to the team. He would have never fought the divorce. Haley doesn't have a leg to stand on to keep you two apart. You are both already out to your bosses. You have no issues with work, and taking him to court for it will just look bad on her. He's respected, and no one who knows you or talks to you would be able to say that he pressured you into this."

"You are enlightened compared to when I first said we were starting a relationship."

"JJ and Prentiss rung my bell a little on it. That he didn't set out to hurt you and that really we all should have seen this coming. Every since Dowd, you two have gotten closer and closer. When he was still married to Haley, it was just friendly, but then you both started to rely on each other more and more."

"And then he started to push me away. He said it was because he was afraid and wasn't ready to admit that he had feelings for me. I believe him, but it's hard to grasp that he wants to stay with me. I'm not good with change, and this is a lot of change in a small amount of time. Just give me time to get my head around shit. We talk. We talk a lot, so he's not going to freak out. I might a little when I'm introduced to Haley, but I'm not going to embarrass myself. I promise."

"I'm not worried about you embarrassing yourself. I'm worried about you freaking the fuck out and then hiding."

"I did that once, and it was your fault!" Spencer shoved at Morgan, smiling as he did. It felt good to be out. To be free. To know that Foyet wasn't there lurking. He hadn't been looking around as much as he usually did. It was strange to know that before he had been so limited on where he could go and what he could do, but now he was free. 

"So when were you going to move out of Hotch's?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know. I just...the nightmares are not going to magically stop, and they are bad enough for the both of us that I am afraid of what we will do if I do go home. I mean one of us is moving to the bed of the other at some point in the night. It wouldn't be fair if I just abandoned him, to him or me."

"So you are just going to stay with him until what the nightmares are over?"

"I don't know, Morgan. I don't know. We've not had a chance to talk yet."

"Hey, calm down."

"Well, you are the one making me talk about things when I've not even talked to the other party first."

"I didn't mean to upset you, Reid. You don't always think about things like this, and I'm worried that you guys will do what you think is right by what society wants and not do what is right for you. Society would say that you move out of his place right now since the threat is over and you can live on your own again without fear of being attacked again. Your psyche's though I don't think can take it. Your nightmares are just one part of the whole thing. You do need to talk to him, but I didn't want him blindsiding you with asking you to stay with him. I kind of went about it a little wrong."

Spencer snorted his agreeance on that before he took a sip of his coffee. He looked at Morgan out of the side of his eye and saw that Morgan was looking ahead. 

"You don't think it's stupid to stay with him, even if I never leave?"

"You two had a rough patch, and it might be a little co-dependent to stay with him, but you two haven't taken that next step."

"How do you know that?" Spencer knew that neither of them had thought about sex really. There were erections upon waking, sometimes, but that didn't mean a damned thing. They were both adults who took take of those kinds of things without bothering the other. Spencer usually just ignored his. He didn't like jerking off on cases, he wasn't going to do it in Hotch's apartment. There were a few times, though while he was showering that he gave him when the erection would not go away. 

"Even after all the healing that Hotch has done, he's not been cleared for sex. He told Rossi that last week. The doctors want to do a few scans on him before they clear him for sex." 

"Ah." Spencer hadn't thought about that as far as Hotch's wounds went. He knew that they were extensive, but he hadn't thought that it would take this long to be cleared for sex. Obviously, the inside was a lot worse off than Spencer thought, or the doctor was being overly cautious. Either was a likely scenario. Spencer would have to ask Hotch about that. 

"Morgan," Hotch said making both Spencer and Morgan looked up at him. 

"Hotch," Morgan said as he stood up and stretched. "I'm going to head out. I think a good meal for lunch is a good idea as I only ate a protein bar that I grabbed when I was leaving home. You need anything you let me know."

"We will," Hotch said. He waited for Morgan to start to leave before he sat down beside Spencer, no room between them, thighs pressed together. Hotch leaned back on the bench and draped an arm over the back of the bench. Spencer knew that Hotch wanted to wrap it around him but was unsure of what Spencer wanted to do as far as public displays of affection were. Spencer leaned back, letting his head carefully drop onto Hotch's arm. Hotch curled his hand around Spencer's shoulder. "How do you feel?"

"Strange, tired, hungry, worn out." 

"I feel about the same. The Marshalls are getting ready to go and get Haley and Jack. They don't want to go alone to get them and want me to come along. Strauss has given the team two weeks of downtime, though we could go in and work on files and cold cases if we wanted. She thought about just giving it to me and then figured that the rest of the team could do with as well with the Foyet hunt we have all been engaged in."

"When do you leave?"

"Three hours. I want you to come with me."

"What?" Spencer turned to look at Hotch in shock. Why would he want Spencer to go with him?

"Jack's been writing me letters and mailing them to a PO Box in Arlington, and a Marshall has been picking them up and dropping them off. One just dropped off the newest." Hotch held out his hand, and there was a letter there. 

"Jack can write?" Spencer asked. He knew that Jack was rather good on the speaking front, but he hadn't been aware that he was doing well on the whole writing front. 

"He told Haley what he wanted to say. He writes Daddy at the top and then his name at the bottom, but the rest is Haley, though she does put her own spin to Jack's words, adding meaning where Jack's words fail him. Read."

"Okay." Spencer took the letter from Hotch's hand and looked down at it for a few seconds before he unfolded it. Jack's writing of Daddy was very good, and Haley's handwriting was beautiful as always. 

/Daddy,

Mommy tells me that you have a boyfriend. I am looking forward to meeting him. Soccer has been a lot of fun, and I hope that I can find a team when I get home. I miss you so much, and I hope that when you come to get me and Mommy that you bring your boyfriend. I want to show him my soccer trophy I got for improvement. Please come and get us soon.

Jack/

Spencer's throat constricted a little as he handed the letter back. Hotch folded it and slipped it onto the table beside him. 

"They know?"

"I assume that one of the Marshall's told her during a check. I have no clue if she knows who I am with an what exactly she has been told. I ask how she is doing, and they tell me she's doing fine. I have no clue if she's upset. If you don't want to go with me, that is fine. I understand. I know that meeting them has been freaking you out a little, meeting them as more than just my co-worker. If you want to stay here that's fine, if you want to go, that's fine. If you go and freak out and want to fly back commercial, that's fine. It's whatever you want. I just didn't want you to think that I don't want you to meet them."

"I'll go." Spencer had no clue what prompted him to say that. He was scared as hell. Morgan was right that Jack would like him. Jack already did, but he was a child, and his time with his father had been non-existent since he had gone into hiding. Sharing wasn't a child's strong suit. 

"I'm glad. Why don't we head back and get ready to go and get them?" Hotch stood up and held out his hand for Spencer to take. Hotch was careful as he pulled Spencer up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders again. Spencer inhaled deep, preparing himself for what was to come.

* * *

Spencer regretted agreeing to go as soon as he realized that the flight home was going to be pretty much just the four of them and a single Marshall who was going to be staying in the cockpit to give them all time to talk. They were taking the BAU jet, approved by the Director of the FBI for personal use. 

Landing in Seattle of all places was strange. The team hadn't been back for a case since the first case that Gideon was back on the team after the Bale bombing. There was an SUV waiting on them, but no one was inside of it. Hotch slipped into the driver's seat while Spencer took the passenger. Hotch started to mess with the GPS. 

"Where are the Marshalls?" Spencer asked.

"Keeping their distance for now. Someone is watching where Haley and Jack are, but they are allowing us to have a little privacy."

Spencer nodded his head and watched as they headed out of the airport. The drive was not that long considering, but then Marshall's were good at their job to find their charges places that they could easily slip away from. There was a bus station not that far from there either. Spencer's gut clenched when the GPS told them that their destination was up and on the right. Hotch stopped the SUV about half a block away, and Spencer looked around to figure out why. Then he saw Jack in the front yard of a house at the end of a cul-de-sac playing soccer with himself. Haley was sitting on the front porch with a book in hand, but her eyes darted up and around the whole of the street every ten to fifteen seconds. 

"Hotch?" Spencer asked.

"He's right there, and I'm...I'm scared to go and see him."

The next time that Haley looked up, her eyes lingered on the SUV, and each time after they did. 

"Well, unless we move closer, she's going to call the cops." Spencer reached over and laid his hand on Hotch's knee. 

"Yeah," Hotch said as he put the vehicle in gear again and checked the road before pulling out of the spot. Haley said something, and Jack came running to her. Haley put Jack behind her, and she looked like she was ready to sprint away at the first show that they were not there for good. Hotch turned off the SUV and opened the door before stepping out. Spencer let him go out first. 

"DADDY!" Jack screamed, and before Haley could grab him, he took off running. He waited though until Hotch was around the SUV and crouching to get near the road. Jack jumped at him and hugged him tightly. Spencer watched the reunion, not wanting to intrude on it. The windows in the SUV were just tinted enough that Spencer was pretty sure that Haley could see that someone was in the SUV but not who it was. 

Spencer watched as Hotch held onto Jack tight like he thought that someone was going to come along and rip Jack from his hands. Haley wandered closer, and Hotch even hugged her when he finally stood up with Jack in his arms. Haley looked ready to cry, and Spencer looked away from the moment between Hotch and his ex-wife. Spencer picked up his phone and sighed at it when he saw that Morgan was already checking on him. It wasn't a secret, what they were doing. It was no secret at all. Spencer cleared the message without opening and looked back out at the family. Spencer felt his gut clench. He wondered if this was something that he should be stepping away from. There was every chance that Hotch and Haley could make it this time. Haley had first-hand knowledge and understanding of what Hotch did now. Maybe it gave her perspective, and she would be more content with the life that she had with him.

Hotch walked toward the SUV and opened the door to smile at him. 

"Mister Spencer," Jack said. 

"Hello, Jack," Spencer said as he slipped out of the SUV. He kept his face turned enough to where hopefully his cheek wasn't seen. He had no clue what Haley had been told about the boyfriend for Hotch. 

"Doctor Reid," Haley said with a smile. That smile wasn't going to last long at all. "Let's go inside." 

"Is the bad man gone, Daddy?" Jack asked.

"Yes. He's gone. I took care of him."

"No one beats Daddy," Jack said with the conviction that only a three-year-old could have. 

"You got that right buddy," Hotch said. 

The foursome walked into the house, and Jack demanded to be settled down as soon as they were inside. He took off running for the stairs and thundered up them. Haley smiled as he did. 

"He's not been this excited in a long time. I don't have the heart to tell him not to run." Haley sat down on the couch and waved at the chair and the love seat. Spencer took the chair, even though Hotch gave him a weird look. Spencer did not want to broadcast anything at all.

"What happened?"

"He tried to attack me last night. I shot him. He is very dead."

"Good. Did he-" Haley stopped and bit her lip. "The Marshall who last visited me at work said that you have a lover. He didn't like the term boyfriend for you. Did he attack you and him?"

"Tried to." Hotch looked nervous, even to Spencer, so he had to look it to Haley.

"They told me that Foyet attacked him alone. Carved his face."

"They seemed to have told you a lot."

"I was giving them issues with things. I almost called my mother. Until they told me about that attack. They never told me how he was, and I've asked. The last time I demanded to know, but they told me that it was better that I didn't." Haley looked at Spencer, but she was looking at his brace. "You were the one that was shot on the case that was happening when Aaron was in the hospital. I heard the Marshalls talking about it when I was being loaded up with Jack."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I knew it wasn't Morgan or the others that came for me, but I never got the name. Are you doing okay?"

"The brace should be coming off soon. It's on there to make sure that I don't hurt it more, but I'm down to home physical therapy now."

"Good." Haley looked at Hotch and then down to his stomach. "And you?"

"Good. I'm cleared for working in the field as long as I don't go on a takedown or chase after an UnSub."

"What is that?" Jack asked. 

Spencer looked at where Jack had gone, but the boy wasn't there. Spencer kept on looking and found him at his side, and his eyes were on Spencer's cheek. 

"That's-" Spencer stopped and swallowed because he didn't know how to answer that in a way that Jack would understand. Then it hit him, and he knew that there was only a single way to answer and then Haley would know. "Well, do you remember when you went to visit your Daddy when he was in the hospital. What did your Mommy say?"

"That a bad man had hurt Daddy." Jack laid a hand over his belly. "Here."

"Well, he attacked me, and he hurt me here." Spencer touched his cheek. He gave Jack what he hoped was a brave smile as he heard Haley gasp. Spencer turned away from Jack to look at her and really hoped that he didn't see revulsion on her face. He was just about to lock eyes with her when he felt Jack climbing up on him, making sure not to touch his leg with a brace. Jack's fingers were on Spencer's face, touching the scars that were forming before Spencer could react. He heard a gasp from Hotch and then Hotch was there trying to grab Jack, but Spencer held up his hand. He had to get used to this. If the relationship continued, Jack was going to be a big part of his life. He needed to get used to the boy now. It would be a crash course. 

Spencer wasn't sure what Jack was going to do, but he barely brushed his fingers on the skin, tracing the whole thing before he leaned in. Spencer started to lean back, but Jack was too quick and pressed a kiss to his cheek right over the center of the scar. 

"Daddy says, kisses make it better."

"Thank you, Jack. It does feel a little better." 

Jack crawled back down out of Spencer's lap and ran to his father. He stopped and grabbed some things off of the floor and handed them to Hotch. "I made you drawings, Daddy. One for every day, we were apart." 

Spencer felt that he shouldn't be there for this. He had not thought that part through. Hotch should be here alone bonding with his son. "Excuse me."

"Spencer," Hotch called out as Spencer escaped through the hall to find the bathroom. He found the little half bathroom and shut and locked the door. He tried to calm his breathing, but he was having trouble. 

Spencer closed his eyes and forced his lungs to expand the entire way. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled, repeating that over and over again. Jamie had helped him through the few freak-outs that he had had since he had been attacked. 

"Daddy, did I hurt Mister Spencer?" Jack asked. 

"No, buddy he's just...he's not used to people who are close like we all are. He's not used to having someone kiss his boo-boos."

"Cause his mommy was sick?" 

Spencer swallowed and tried not to break out crying. He really didn't need that.

"Aaron, why don't you let me talk to him?" Haley asked. 

"Hales," Hotch said. 

"I'm not going to be mean. Jack, take your Daddy and show him your sandbox please."

"Yes, Mommy." 

There was the sound of Jack talking as he moved away then a minute of silence before Spencer heard a key in the door. The door opened, but Haley didn't enter the room. She sat down in the entryway and gave Spencer a smile. 

"I thought it was just concern at first," Haley said as she leaned against the door jamb. "When he looked at you in the SUV before going over to you. He's always cared about you more than others. He was so upset with himself after that deal where you were taken captive and hurt. Then you were having issues. It was me who figured out what was wrong with you and pointed him in the direction of Beltway Clean Cops. He didn't know what to do. So I helped him. I had hoped that it wasn't you that was hurt when Aaron had been hurt. I worried that he would try too hard to go after you and take care of you. Did he hurt himself doing that?"

"No," Spencer croaked. 

"Well, I'm glad. Did you have someone helping you?"

Spencer shook his head, and Haley's eyes narrowed.

"I think, Doctor Reid, you should start at the beginning."

"Mrs. Hotchner-" Spencer started, but he stopped when it looked like she was going to say something.

"How about Haley?"

"Then call me Spencer." 

"Aaron would never have left you alone, no matter what unless he knew that someone else was making sure that you were fine unless something else went on. So you can tell me, or I'll sic Jack on you and ask him myself. He won't lie to me."

"He pulled away from me and our friendship before that trip to the case in Canada. So I think he made himself not think about it."

"You live in a walk up, and you cannot tell me that with your leg still in a brace that everything was good and you were not on crutches," Haley said. 

"I made do with what I had."

"Yeah, I can see you doing that. Aaron said that you had a very short childhood, notwithstanding your genius. So what changed?"

"This," Spencer said as he waved at his face. Haley looked at him interested, and he nodded his head. Haley scooted closer to him, and Spencer turned his head toward her so she could see it. 

"That's his mark. I looked him up after we were settled the first time. Why did he go after you if you and Aaron weren't...a couple?"

"Foyet threatened me at the same time that he did you. Hotch thought that he wouldn't go after me when he stayed away from me. He knew that Hotch was in love with me, so it didn't work. I don't know if he knew I was as well. I didn't ask that."

"You call him Hotch still?" Haley looked really confused. 

"We've not exactly had a lot of time to do other things. We've talked the whole thing to death, but the relationship, the ins, and outs of it and everything has kind of gone to the wayside as we dealt with Foyet and trying to entice him into attacking us. He did, and we were able to make sure he didn't hurt us at all." Spencer shrugged it off. The two of them had not talked a lot about what they were going to do when Foyet was gone. It was like they didn't want to jinx it, so Spencer had no clue what they were going to do about it at all. Still talking about it with Haley before Hotch was not the way to go. 

"I'm glad. He needs someone to make him happy, and that won't be me. I got a lot of thinking in while I've been here. I saw where we went wrong, where I went wrong in thinking that he would be anything other than what he was. Where I demanded too much that he would never give and I knew it. Where I-" Haley stopped, and she bit her lower lip.

"You cheated on him?" Spencer asked. 

Haley looked up at Spencer with shock on her face. "How do you know that?"

"He's known it since when he had been suspended. He knew it, and still, he tried to fix everything with you." Spencer didn't mean for that to sound as bad as it sounded, but Haley didn't say anything.

"Really?"

"Haley, he's a profiler. He's trained to notice things like that. Of course, he noticed," Spencer said. 

The wind seemed to just leave Haley's sails then. She slumped down and sighed before looking back at Spencer. "He still tried to save the marriage after knowing that. I never...I feel even worse than I did before."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He wouldn't have told me to save my dignity. He would have just kept his mouth shut and nodded, telling me that he forgives me all the while making sure that I'm fine while he's falling apart a little inside."

"He holds it all in," Spencer agreed. 

"I'll have to make sure that you two don't crash and burn like he and I did. Aaron loves forever, so I know that he'll not give up trying to fix things with you if they go sour." 

"I don't think-" Spencer stopped when Haley smiled at him. 

"It's almost Father's Day."

"I know. I also know that you come over with Jack and make Hotch breakfast in bed, and then he and Jack spend the rest of the weekend together." Spencer had listened to Hotch talking about it after each Father's Day. Spencer had been so very happy that for at least that day Haley had been able to put aside their issues. Though it was probably because Hotch had done it first for Mother's Day. Spencer had thought a few times that he wished that his father had cared as much as Hotch did. Spencer hadn't seen him in a long time before he had on that case in Vegas. 

"I was bringing it up because I don't want you to think that you need to not be there." 

Spencer hadn't thought that far ahead. 

"I'm hungry," Jack declared as he stepped up behind Haley. Hotch was behind him and was looking at Spencer with an anxious look on his face. Spencer gave Hotch a warm smile, and it seemed to relax the man a good bit. 

"You are? What do you want for dinner?" Haley asked as she turned to where she could look at Jack. 

"I want tacos."

"Ah, I see. Well, that means that we need to get ready to go because I have nothing for tacos in the house. So Aaron, are you okay with driving us to the little hole in the wall Tex-Mex place that Jack loves?" 

"Yeah, we can do that. The jet will be ready whenever we are, so there is no rush on that." 

"I'd rather head home as soon as possible. So we can pack bags of what we want to take and then the Marshalls can take care of everything else. That's what they said they would do when Foyet was found and taken care of."

"That sounds good."

"Mister Spencer come and help me." Jack held out his hand toward Spencer, and Spencer couldn't turn him down. He would do anything to make Jack like him. 

* * *

Spencer rubbed his face on his pillow. He didn't want to get up, but he knew that Aaron wanted him to go with him to pick up Jack for their weekend together. They had got back to Quantico late in the evening, but the whole of the team had stayed to work on paperwork so they could enjoy a three day weekend with nothing piled on their desks. Spencer stretched in bed and sighed. He was in his bedroom and remembered going to sleep there, but it seemed that Aaron hadn't joined him.

Aaron had asked Spencer to stay with him, even after the whole debacle with Foyet had been put to rest. That had morphed into Aaron finding a house for them so that Jack had a backyard to play in on his weekends with Aaron. Spencer paid half of the bills, but Aaron had bought the house, he used logic, and Spencer hated it. Aaron was good at using logic to get Spencer to do what he wanted. Sometimes, Spencer resisted just to be a little brat. When Aaron called him that it was fond and loving and while the word should have upset Spencer, it didn't. It felt like something Aaron was calling him with love in his voice, so Spencer didn't care.

The smell of bacon was filling the room with coffee weaved in with it. Aaron loved to cook when they were home, at least breakfast and lunch. Spencer forced his eyes open to look at the time and saw that it was after nine, which meant he had slept in later than he wanted. Spencer got up, shocked that Aaron hadn't woke him up. Aaron had wanted to pick up Jack at seven.

Jack had adapted well to having Spencer around, but Spencer also made sure that Aaron had enough time with Jack alone that the boy didn't get upset on sharing his father. Jack was happy that his father had someone to make sure he was happy when Jack wasn't around and that it was someone that he liked.

"You awake?" Jack whispered.

"AH!" Spencer screamed and rolled over to look at Jack was laying in the bed on the other side where Aaron usually slept if he joined Spencer. It wasn't an every night thing, and Spencer only sometimes braved going to Aron's room but never on the weekends when Jack was there.

"YAY! You are awake!" Jack sat up in the bed before he jumped over to land on Spencer. "Daddy says breakfast will be ready when you get up. He even allowed me to bring you coffee." Jack scrambled off of Spencer to grab the travel mug that was on the nightstand. "Daddy put it in a cup like this, so I didn't spill any. He said you would be upset if I spilled any, so I made sure I didn't."

"That's good." Spencer could still feel his heart racing from the scare that he got from Jack being in bed with him. Spencer couldn't remember whether he was wearing clothes or not. He took the travel mug with one hand and reached under the blanket with the other. He found that he was wearing pants but no shirt. He had been so tired when he went to get ready for bed that he was not sure where the shirt he usually wore to bed was.

"Are you hungry?" Jack asked. He was eyeing Spencer like he was going to leave him behind if he wasn't hungry.

"Not at the moment. So go ahead down and tell your father that it's okay if you guys eat and I'll get myself something when I am hungry." Spencer's stomach was a little upset from the scare he had got. He wasn't sure that he would be able to eat.

"Okay," Jack crawled off of the bed and darted out of the room. His footsteps were soft, and they slowed just as he got closer to the stairs.

Aaron had instilled in Jack that he needed to be careful on the stairs after falling down a set of three in the park because he ran down them. Spencer had been terrified, seeing Jack's head disappear like it had. Jack screaming in pain. He hadn't hurt himself enough to need to the hospital, but he had bruised up the side of his body where it had handled, skinning up his arm and his leg. They had gone home and cleaned up Jack before settling him in on the couch where the three of them cuddled the rest of the day. Jack had been careful around anything he could fall off of.

By the time that Spencer made it down to the kitchen, Aaron had breakfast for him, and Jack laid out, and that was a slice of toast at Spencer's spot, dry. Spencer sat down with his travel mug of coffee and looked at the table. Aaron had cheesy scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon piled on plates in front of him.

"You okay?" Aaron asked. He looked a lot worried about Spencer.

"I got a little bit of a sharp awakening and not enough sleep, so I have an upset tummy." Spencer hoped that Aaron didn't ask more about it. He knew that when Spencer didn't get enough sleep, his stomach would get upset. Two months onto the team after a late night and an even earlier wake up the next morning during a case, Aaron had forced him to eat breakfast. Spencer had thrown it up in the Bureau SUV. Ever since then, no one pressured Spencer to eat when he was nauseous, never more than a piece of toast as Spence agreed that coffee and stomach acid on an upset tummy never helped.

"I scared him," Jack said.

"He didn't mean to. He thought I was more awake than I was."

"Well, there will be plenty left over. You can eat if you get hungry."

Spencer snagged a slice of toast to eat and found that it was the really good kind that was made locally. Jack chattered about the things that he wanted to do that day as well as what he wanted to do with Spencer over the next two days.

"Tomorrow?" Spencer asked. He had hoped to have a nice weekend in the house while Aaron and Jack went around doing things. It was the normal of what they did. Spencer really liked it.

"There is a family day at the local park," Aaron said.

"Family day?" Spencer asked. He swallowed and looked at his toast and coffee.

"Think about it." Aaron made sure that Spencer nodded before he looked away to start to eat.

"I will, and I'll do the dishes," Spencer offered.

"Sure." Aaron gave Spencer a smile.

Jack kept on chattering about what he wanted to do at the family day while Spencer tried to figure out enough logical ways to get out of it. It wasn't that he didn't want to go with Jack and Aaron to a family day thing it was that he didn't want to go at all. Breakfast wrapped up, and Spencer stayed in the kitchen to clean up. He was drying the dishes and starting to put them up when he felt eyes on him. He turned around to see Aaron there. Aaron was leaning against the doorway, just staring at Spencer.

"I'm nearly done." Spencer turned back to slip the plate into the cabinet where the rest were.

"I know." Aaron's voice sounded like it was right behind Spencer.

Spencer ignored him and dried the last plate, putting it up into the cabinet and shut it before he turned around. Aaron was indeed right there. His hand reached up and cupped Spencer's chin, his thumb brushing over the scar on his face. Spencer tried to turn away to get his face free, but he found Aaron's other hand there, cupping his whole cheek on the other side.

"Prentiss pointed out something on the case. You don't go into the bullpen as much on cases, you've gone to the ME's and to crime scenes, but you don't talk to cops like you used to. You don't go anywhere to eat with us unless we force you and you always sit with you scarred side of your face turned to the wall. You haven't gone out with Jack and me for any of the weekend stuff, and you always have such a damned good reason that I never even thought about it."

"I don't like being stared at."

"And I get that, I do Spencer, but you can't hide away in this house the rest of your life. You agreed to live here with because then it meant no getting on elevators with other tenants and seeing them stare, didn't you?"

"You were going to move anyway. You said so yourself. You were going to move, and I enjoyed living with you. I saw no reason to stay at your place that we weren't going to be living at or finding my own place. I really like living with you and Jack."

"Jack wants to go to the family day with you and me. He wants to show off his new friend, my new boyfriend. Are you ready for that?"

"I don't think I am."

"Will you try? You can take the car if you want to leave and Jack and I can take a cab back home."

"No, I could take a cab or the bus home if I get upset. Do you want me to try?"

"I want you to do it for you, but if you can't do it for you, I'll take doing it for me. That's what faking it until you make it is right?" Aaron asked.

Spencer shrugged his shoulders. He slumped back into the kitchen counter. Spencer was fine when he was in the bullpen at work. He was fine around co-workers who all knew it had happened, but the whole country had heard about the Boston Reaper escaping. He had been on wanted posters for months. His symbol had become something that a lot of people knew.

"Two months ago, I was in the store. You had asked me to pick up some garlic bread because you forgot it in the story when you picked up the stuff for spaghetti. A woman yelled at me, calling me sick and perverted for having that man's mark on my face. She said I deserved to go to hell for thinking that George Foyet was someone that I needed to look up to. The stock boy yelled back at her telling her that she needed to keep her mouth shut. That drew the manager who pointed out to the woman that I wasn't someone who looked up to Foyet but someone that had been attacked by the man. That I was on the team that hunted him. I had been attacked when we got too close to finding him. The woman said nothing but huffed and took off. The stock boy didn't get in trouble, but it told me what people think when they see me with this." Spencer waved his hand at the cheek that Aaron was still rubbing his thumb over.

"You are stronger than that, Spencer. I know that you are still finding your feet after everything, that you are adjusting to having a person we hunt go after you again. He's gone, but this part of him will live on forever. He will be on your face, but you have got to stop giving him power. You need to stop allowing him to control what you do and don't do. There are going to be assholes like her all the time. There is any number of assholes who are going to hate us because we are two men in a relationship with a child. That's why Jack wants to go to the family day. It's for non-standard families. Those with two moms, two dads, parents of two races, siblings raising younger kids just to not lose them. There are going to be a lot of people there." Aaron forced Spencer's eyes up to him. His face softened, and then Spencer felt finger rubbing at the skin under his eyelids. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"What could you do? It was handled."

"I could have been there for you. You had nightmares for a few nights around that time. I never understood why, and now I do. I sometimes forget that we have not been together for years." Aaron looked at Spencer with such a look of love that Spencer's breath was robbed from him for a few seconds. "Will you try for me?"

"Yes," Spencer croaked.

"Good." Aaron let go of Spencer's cheeks, and for a few seconds, Spencer thought he was going to leave, but Aaron trailed the hands down Spencer's neck then down his arms and body to settle on his hips. Those hands tightened, and Spencer knew what he wanted. Aaron started to lift him up, so Spencer allowed it, settling on the counter as soon as he was there. Aaron grinned and settled his hands on the counter on either side of Spencer's hips, trapping Spencer there.

Spencer wasn't going to leave, but Aaron liked this position. Most of the time. There were times that Aaron didn't want Spencer sitting down on the counter when they made out. He wanted to be able to feel up Spencer's ass. Today did not seem like it was one of those days. Spencer wrapped his arms around Aaron's neck to keep him close as Aaron nuzzled in for the kiss that he wanted. He always gave Spencer the option of if he wanted to actually be kissing at that moment by taking his time to kiss Spencer's mouth.

Aaron's hands worked their way back to Spencer's lower back, pulling him the edge of the counter, pressing his groin to Aaron's. Spencer wasn't sure of what Aaron was doing because it was the first time that he had done anything like that, but it felt good as Aaron started to rock into him a little bit. This was new, but Spencer didn't mind it at all.

Sex had not entered their relationship yet, and Spencer wasn't sure if it was Aaron giving Spencer time, Aaron wasn't ready, or Aaron was waiting for Spencer to make the first move. Spencer used his hold on Aaron to rock up into him a few times, he felt both of their cocks hardening, and that rush of arousal from just that made Spencer want things that he hadn't thought about too much.

Aaron pulled out of the kiss, panting a little bit. "Do you want to take this upstairs?"

"Couch?" Spencer asked. Making out they had done a few times, usually in the kitchen or that one time in the hallway outside of Aaron's bedroom when Spencer had kissed him goodnight.

"Sure."

The rest of the day passed in a blur as Spencer tried to wrap his head around doing what Aaron wanted. It was big in so many ways, not just declaring himself in a relationship with Aaron to a bunch of strangers but also just going out in public with his scars. Spencer ate a large breakfast and kept himself locked in his bedroom, reading the rest of the morning. Aaron and Jack only ventured in when they had questions, Jack about what he should wear and Aaron on what they wanted to bring as the side dish for the meal. Or to just steal a few kisses here and there.

Spencer dressed for the outing an hour early, making himself leave his bedroom because he was going to hide in there if he didn't. Aaron said nothing about Spencer joining him in the kitchen to just sit on the counter and watch. Every time that Aaron passed him, Spencer drew him in for a kiss. Spencer tried to get him to stay for more than just that single kiss, but the man was stubborn and didn't allow it.

Though right before they were set to leave, Aaron was finished getting everything ready, and he allowed himself to be yanked in for kisses. Spencer made sure to keep them non-arousing as neither of them wanted erections just before leaving.

"Ready?" Jack asked as he came running into the kitchen, sliding across it on socked feet. Spencer watched him out of the corner of his eye as he stopped just before the cabinets. Jack was getting better at that.

"Sure, why don't you grab your backpack and get your shoes on and Spencer and I will get the two coolers and meet you at the door?'

"Yes, Daddy."

"Ready?" Aaron asked, forcing Spencer to hold his eyes.

"Not really but I want to try this. I need to." Spencer hated that in just a single day he had changed to where he never wanted to be in public again to where he wanted to show Aaron that he wasn't that broken. Aaron would love him no matter what so Spencer wasn't worried about that, but he was worried about letting Foyet win. 

The family day at the park was packed. Spencer kept his hand smashed with Aaron's so that the older man knew that Spencer didn't want him to go anywhere. Aaron was used to Spencer being on his left side so that he could hide his cheek by pressing it to his shoulder. Spencer knew that he did a lot of things to cope with what had been done to him. Jamie was slow in forcing him out of his comforts zones, but he wouldn't be shocked if this was slipped to Aaron and Aaron to Jack by Jamie. 

"Let's go drop off the food?" Aaron asked.

"Yes." Spencer nodded his head, rubbing his cheek against Aaron's T-shirt. Jack was right there, not getting too far from them even though his head never stopped moving as he took in everything. Spencer was looking around for a place to settle where no one would come on his scarred side. 

The table for the food was being watched by several people. Aaron had to hand over the food, and it was removed from the cooler and the cooler handed back. Spencer was glad that they were taking care with the food. Spencer figured that protesters were not going to be far behind since there were a lot of non-heterosexual couples in attendance. 

Spencer heard Jack gasped, so he followed the line of sight of Jack to see that he was looking at two large fenced in areas that had a group of people around them and a lot of barking coming from that area. 

"Can we go look at the doggies?" Jack asked. 

Spencer waited a few seconds for Aaron to answer, but when the man didn't, Spencer turned to look at him, and Aaron was looking at Jack. So Spencer turned to look at Jack to see that Jack was holding his hand out to Spencer his eyes trained on him. 

"Sure." Spencer let go of Aaron and stepped closer to Jack before taking his hand. Jack tugged on Spencer's hand gently, not pulling him too hard at all. Spencer knew that Jack been told by his mother and his father that he couldn't jerk on Spencer because of his leg. While it was healed and Spencer didn't need to use the brace, he was still finding that it ached if he stepped on it wrong. That would only come with time and his body fully healing it. 

Jack went right up to the pen with the dogs, and Spencer looked around to see what was going on. He saw that it was the Humane Society of the area doing an adoption run for Fur-babies. Spencer looked around at that point to see that it wasn't just families with kids, there were those who had dogs and even few cats on leashes with no kids around. 

"Jack?" a female voice said.

Spencer grabbed Jack and pulled him back to him, looking around for who said his name. 

"Aunt Jessica!" Jack cried out. He didn't let go of Spencer, though. 

"Jessica," Aaron said as he stepped up behind Spencer, laying a hand on his shoulder. The other hand loosened Spencer's hold on Jack's hand. As soon as he was free, Jack took off toward her. 

"Aaron. I'm glad you are here," Jessica said. 

Spencer looked at the woman to see the slight resemblance to Haley, but there was also the proof that Jessica smiled a lot more. She had a lot of laugh lines on her face. 

"So does this mean that your girlfriend is here?" Aaron was looking around like he would be able to spot someone. 

Spencer was a little confused as he knew little about Jessica Brooks, but he was fairly certain that he had never heard about her girlfriend. Which was a little strange given how often Spencer talked to Haley now. 

"She's over getting some smoothies over at the ice cream place." Jessica had a smirk on her face, which was a little strange given what Spencer knew about her. "So is this Spencer?"

"Aunt Jessica, this is Mister Spencer. He's daddy's boyfriend," Jack said as he started to tug her around the enclosure. Jack pulled Jessica right up to Spencer with a big grin on his face. "Mister Spencer this is my Aunt Jessica. She's Mommy's sister." 

"Miss Brooks," Spencer said as he inclined his head. 

Jessica smiled at him. "Please, Jessica."

"Spencer, then." Spencer felt Aaron's arm wrap around his waist. Spencer's eyes darted around to look for anyone who was upset. 

"It's a beautiful day out," Jessica said. 

"Hotch, Reid," Prentiss said from behind. 

Spencer went with Aaron when Aaron turned around, given no option as Aaron did not let go of his waist. Prentiss had a tray with five drinks on it in her hand. She was smiling and picked up a pale yellow looking drink and handed it over to Aaron.

"Banana smoothie for you. Strawberry with coconut for Reid." Prentiss handed over the red one to Spencer. She grabbed the smallest one next that had been nestled in the middle. "Pina Colada for young Jack."

"Thank you, Aunt Emily." Jack let go of Jessica so he could dart forward for his smoothies as Prentiss moved closer to him. She had two drinks left. 

"You are welcome, Jack." 

Jessica said that her girlfriend had gone to get smoothies, Prentiss had smoothies in her hand. "Oh my."

"What?" Aaron asked, his voice a rumble in Spencer's ear. 

"So funny story. I was getting ready to head over to the ice cream shop to get smoothies when I saw that my boss and co-worker had arrived. Only to find that my girlfriend's ex-brother-in-law and my girlfriend are the same person."

Aaron started to laugh. 

"I don't get it." Jack frowned as he pulled his lips off of his drink. He looked up at Spencer. "Explain it to me, Mister Spencer." 

Spencer crouched down and held out his arm. Jack came over and tucked himself into Spencer's side with a pout on his lips. 

"So you know that your Aunt Jessica has a girlfriend, right?"

"Yes, Mommy says that she's keeping her secret so that she doesn't have to share her with anyone yet."

"Well, your Aunt Emily is that girlfriend."

"Like you and Daddy are boyfriends?" Jack asked.

The term boyfriend had stuck because Jack liked it a lot and used it all the time. He loved introducing Spencer as Mister Spencer, my Daddy's boyfriend to everyone. 

"Yes," Spencer said.

"That's really cool. I don't have to like them just cause Aunt Jessica does cause I already really love Aunt Emily. Does that mean if they get married, she'd be my real aunt?"

"She's already your real aunt because your father considers her a sister, just like I do. Like Aunt JJ, Aunt Penelope, Uncle Derek, and Uncle Dave."

"Can I hang out here at the puppies?" Jack asked.

Spencer was about to answer when he felt something climbing his back. Spencer screamed and near jumped up to take off running when he heard purring like from a cat. Spencer stopped moving until the thing climbing him got up his back and onto his shoulder. Spencer turned his head to see a ball of white fur right there. "Aren't you a curious little thing?" Spencer reached up and pulled the cat off of his shoulder. It wasn't until he got a good look at the face an the ears, as well as the size of the paws as compared to the rest that he realized that it was not a cat but a kitten. 

"Meow," the curious thing chirped at him. 

"I'm so sorry, Sir," one of the attendants said. She came around to take the kitten from him. 

"No, it's fine. I think that she likes me." Spencer rubbed his face on hers, and the kitten started to scant mark him. Spencer settled his smoothies down on the ground. 

"She's escaped several times today. Her and her sister."

"Her sister?" Spencer looked into the pen that had the cats in it, but there was no other Maine Coon cat in the pen. 

"I think I have her," Aaron said. He turned around when Spencer looked at him and there clinging to the back of Aaron's black jeans was a black fur ball. Spencer couldn't help the laugh. Aaron reached around to snag the cat by the back of her neck before lifting her up and into his arms. Spencer could hear the purr from where he was. 

"They don't like anyone," the attendant said. She looked shocked and like she just might faint from how the two kittens were acting. 

"Daddy, can we keep them?" Jack asked as he reached out to pet the white kitten in Spencer's arms. The kitten arched her back so that Jack could get a good pet in on her. 

Aaron looked at Spencer and then down at Jack before he looked at Jessica.

"Haley would stop by and check on them when you are out of town. She's been talking about wanting to get Jack a pet of some kind. I think she would be thrilled with you keeping the pet at your house instead of hers." Jessica grinned as she said it. 

"Say cheese," Prentiss said.

Spencer looked up at her and saw she was taking a picture. Spencer smiled and waited to move until he heard the flash and still gave it a few seconds. 

"I'll send it to all of you," Prentiss said. 

"Thanks. So I'll take Midnight here over and fill out the paperwork we need to adopt them and then on the way home we can stop and get everything that they will need. You can make a list, right?" Aaron asked. 

Spencer nodded his head, and he looked down at the kitten in his lap. 

"What's her name?" Jack asked.

"We've been calling her Fluffy."

"That's a dog in Harry Potter!" Jack cried out like it was the worst name in the world.

"How about Curiosity?" Spencer asked.

"Midnight and Curiosity, I like it." Jack grinned and rushed to his father to help him fill out the paperwork for adoption. 

"Well your household just doubled in size," Prentiss said as she offered out a hand to help Spencer up. Spencer shifted Curiosity over to one arm and took Prentiss's. She was good at helping him by being a steady upward force, not a jerk which tended to hurt his leg more than help it. 

"I'm okay with that. I've wanted cats, but I didn't trust any of my neighbors to take care of them. Are you sure that Haley won't mind?" Spencer asked.

"Yes. She's been hatching a plan or two to try and get Aaron, and Jack near a place where Jack would talk his father into a pet, a cat or a dog and she would swoop in and be the savior.

Before Spencer could say anything, he heard his phone go off that a phone number that was not in his contacts was texting him. Spencer frowned and shuffled Curiosity over to where she was up on his shoulder, a place she didn't seem to mind being at all so he could dig out his phone. He recognized the number as soon as he saw it, having read a lot of Aaron's texts from Haley. It was a joint message with Aaron and him. She was very happy that they had cats and she was offering to bring Jack over every afternoon and give them fresh food and water as well as scoop out their litter. Spencer looked over at Aaron, who was looking at his phone and laughing. 

Spencer found a large picnic table that had no one at it and settled there, letting Curiosity sniff around at the top of it. Jessica and Prentiss sat down on the other side. Curiosity came over after sniffing the whole of the table and started to lick at the side of Spencer's cup. "Thirsty, huh?"

"Here," a voice said and a man with a shirt that proclaimed him staff handed over a small Styrofoam bowl and a bottle of water that was sealed. "It's getting warm, so I went to get supplies for everyone who brought an animal with them. Most have things, but as it looks like you were just claimed, I can understand you not having anything."

"Thanks. Can I have two? We are going home with two cats today." 

"You are lucky. She's very pretty." He held out his hand, and Curiosity just hissed at him. "Seems she's happy with her family. Enjoy and if you need more water for the kittens just find one of us. We will have plenty for humans and animals." 

"Thanks." Spencer settled down the first bowl and poured out a few inches of water before dipping his finger int it and holding it out to Curiosity. She licked his finger and then followed it to the bowl. Spencer watched her as she drank her fill. There was a jingle and then Midnight was there with a lilac colored harness on her body. Aaron was unclipping a leash from it. He held out another dark purple harness to Spencer. 

"Maggie, the lady who was the one who picked these guys up from the side of the road, has them harness trained. So we can walk around with them today. Oh, water. Good. She said someone was going around giving it out as well as bowls." 

"Yeah," Spencer said as he watched Midnight trot over to where Curiosity's bowl was and start to drink. Spencer smiled and reached over to let Midnight sniff him whenever she was done drinking. 

"I have the adoption papers, and since I had my credentials on me, they waived the background check on me."

Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that and Maggie, I guess knows Morgan, and knew who I was. They are both already fixed, and their wellness checkup was perfect when they were taken in. We should have no issues, and Maggie gave me the name of a doctor in the area that works with a lot of people who work non-standard hours. We can see which one we like and go from there." 

"You two are adorable," Jessica said with a smile on her face.

"I could say the same with you two," Aaron said, and he glanced between Prentiss and Jessica. Jessica just stuck her tongue out at him. 

Spencer stayed mostly at the table with the two kittens but did go on a walk at one point with Curiosity, finding that she was very good at walking on the leash even with all of the people who were running around. There were enough animals there that most people were keeping an eye out for pets which worked well in his favor. 

"Ready to go home?" Aaron asked as he laid a hand on Spencer's shoulder and rubbed there for a second. Spencer had his head pillowed on his left arm with his right playing with a bit of string with Curiosity.

"Yes. Though we still have to stop at the store to get things for our kittens." Spencer smiled as he said our. It felt nice to say it. It was a claim on them as a couple, having cats. 

The trip to the store was quick because Jack was tired because he did not have a nap. They had eaten dinner at the park as it had been an all-day event so that everyone could try and get there even if they worked. Jack found a home in the buggy, sitting in the large basket with the cats while Spencer pushed a second cart that they used to actually put their purchases in. There was going to be a while setting up the litter pans and getting the food dishes clean before Aaron and Spencer could settle down. 

Jack was the first in the door with both of the leashes in his hand while he helped direct the kittens around their new home. It was interesting to watch Jack as he talked to the cats, and they were just interested in smelling everything that was in their new home. It was three trips to get the things that had been bought or won at the family day in the park as well as the supplies for the kittens for each Aaron and Spencer. The litter pans were unwieldy and required that they were taken in at the same time but with nothing else. There were six in total, three for each floor just because cats were cats and were picky. There was room in the downstairs bathroom for two and then a spot in the laundry room as well. The other three pans would go into the upstairs, one in each bathroom. 

"Why don't you sit down?" Aaron asked as Spencer brought in his last load. 

"Okay," Spencer said. His leg was aching some from the walking around that they had done both at the park and then at the store. He wouldn't fight with it because he hated seeing the frown on Aaron's face when Spencer was stubborn about the pain in his leg. "I think I'm going to go and stretch out on the bed."

"If you change into shorts, I'll give your leg muscles a rub down after I wrestle Jack into bed."

"I'll take that." Spencer kissed Aaron on the cheek before he made his way toward the stairs that would take him up to the second floor. Spencer changed out of the clothes he had been wearing and into a pair of loose shorts that were Aaron, just cinched a little tighter, and a T-shirt that was also Aaron's. He laid down on the bed, and he wasn't on there, but a few minutes before he felt himself start to drift off to sleep. 

Spencer sighed and arched up into the hands that were rubbing on his thigh. He smelled the massage oil that Aaron had bought to use on his leg and knew that it had to be Aaron.

"That feels good," Spencer said as he sunk down into the bed again and became boneless. 

"I knew that already," Aaron said and his tone was full of mirth. 

Spencer opened his eyes and looked down at Aaron. Aaron was down to just his boxers, and the bedroom door behind him was shut. Spencer frowned. He had hoped to get the kittens to sleep in the bed.

"They are investigating the house now that no one is around. I have water set up all around like you wanted, including in the office and their food dishes are full for the night. When we are actually getting ready to go to sleep, I can open the door if you want."

"Yes." Spencer hissed as Aaron found a painful knot, and he gently worked it loose. Spencer closed his eyes and let the feeling of Aaron's hands on his thigh settle him down. Aaron worked all of the achy bits away and then worked on just massaging both of Spencer's thighs. Spencer felt his fingers work up and under the shorts, higher than Aaron had gone before when he was massaging, and there was no knot there. Aaron's fingers brushed the point where hip and thigh met and then moved down, brushing Spencer's balls. 

"Yes?" Aaron asked. 

Spencer nodded his head and forced his eyes open. He saw that he was hard and given the wet spot on the shorts, he had been for a while. Aaron turned his hands to grab Spencer's shorts and started to tug them down. Spencer dug his heels into the bed to raise his hips so that Aaron could get them off. When Aaron had them down at his ankles, Spencer put his hips down and sat up to take his shirt off. Aaron moved off the bed long enough to take his boxers off before he was moving up the bed again to get in between Spencer's legs. They were both fully naked and both hard. Spencer laid back, tossing his shirt onto the floor and he spread his legs more so that Aaron could get all the way up to where they could kiss. 

Wrapping his hand around Aaron's neck, Spencer settled back on the pillows all the way. He felt a lot of pillows and noticed that he had gone to sleep in Aaron's bed and not his own. He hadn't even thought about it. Aaron grabbed Spencer's legs and hitched them up to where he was wrapping them around Aaron's waist, their cocks aligning. Spencer felt that Aaron's cock was slick. Spencer thrust up into him, moaning as the friction on his cock felt damned good. 

They kissed as Aaron rocked down into Spencer and Spencer thrust up into him as much as possible. It felt damned good. Almost too good to Spencer. He wanted it to last for a long time but knew that he wouldn't. 

"Look," Aaron said as he pulled out of the kiss, making Spencer whine a little at the loss of the mouth and tongue he had been doing his best to worship. 

Spencer looked down as Aaron braced himself up on one arm and used the other to grab both of their cocks. His hand was slick again, and Spencer felt the massage oil bottle roll into his shoulder. He was mesmerized by his cock right next to Aaron's and both of them appearing and disappearing in Aaron's tight fist as he stroked them at the same time. Spencer didn't try and move at all as Aaron stroked them. He just watched until his orgasm crashed through him. His head dropped back, and his eyes closed even though he wanted to keep them open to see, but his body had other ideas.

Aaron's breathing changed, and Spencer forced himself to look then, to see Aaron's cock head swell just a bit and then his release came out, mixing with Spencer's on Spencer's chest. Aaron kept on stroking until nothing else came out, his hand still wrapped around them both. Aaron let go of their cocks and slumped forward and to the side, smearing the mess on Spencer but making sure that he wasn't crushing him. 

Spencer turned to find Aaron's mouth. He kissed him, long and slow. Spencer uncurled his hand from where he had been holding onto Aaron's arm to keep him as close as possible and found that his hand was aching a little from the hold he had. He wasn't entirely sure that Aaron wasn't going to have bruises from it. Spencer opened his mouth to apologize but stopped because he had done that once when he had left a hickey on Aaron's neck after a make-out session in the kitchen, but Aaron had told him that he liked wearing Spencer's mark on him. 

"Move in with me," Aaron demanded as he pulled back out of the kiss enough to speak. He didn't allow Spencer enough time to answer but instead went back to kissing him. 

Spencer didn't care to answer. He had already moved in with Aaron, so he wasn't sure what the man wanted, but he would find out when Aaron explained more and not a second before. He was enjoying kissing Aaron too much to want to stop. 

Yawning forced Spencer away from Aaron's kissing, and he tried not to let Aaron know it was why he was breaking the kiss.

"We had a very busy day," Aaron said as he laid his head on Spencer's chest, right above his heart. Aaron yawned a few seconds later. "Move in with me."

"Aaron, I'm already living here." 

"Into my bedroom. Don't sleep in your bed anymore. Stay here, right here with me." Aaron yawned again, his jaw cracking. 

Spencer covered up answering right away by grabbing a pillowcase and dropping the pillow out of it and using it to clean them up some. He knew that at least one of the needed to get up and get a rag, but he didn't care to move that much. He liked the feel of Aaron mostly on top of him. Holding him down on the bed right where Aaron wanted him. 

"Okay," Spencer said before pressing a kiss to Aaron's forehead. He could do that. He could stay in Aaron's bed forever. They could spend the next day moving Spencer's things to Aaron's bedroom, Jack would help or hinder by trying to help but not really doing well at it. The kittens would probably hinder as well by being cute and wanting love or to play. Though Spencer was all for those kinds of hindrances. 

"Love you," Aaron said, sounding more than half asleep.

"Love you, too, Aaron," Spencer whispered across his skin. 

Aaron hummed, and Spencer just wrapped an arm around him to hold him close. Spencer found Aaron's phone and set the alarm for an hour from them so they could get up and clean up and get the bed ready for them to sleep on. Spencer also wanted to remember to open the door, so the kittens could come in if they wanted. 

Spender was happier right then than he thought that he would ever be when he had been sitting in that bar just hours before Foyet attacked him. He could do without the attack, but if that meant losing what he had found, he didn't think he would want to change anything.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! 
> 
> I can be found on MeWe (a FB replacement that's better) [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot. My writing page for the moment is kind of dead in the water on a FB front as links are being banned for content. 
> 
> The Criminal Minds Reverse Bang sign-ups are open until June 30th! Please check it out [here](https://criminalmindsbangblog.wordpress.com/).


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